The Unexpected
by legendarytobes
Summary: Kara neglected to tell Clark a little something about Kryptonian biology and it results in Lana leaving him with child. It's about how Clana dissolves and Chlark bond over the child. Set in season seven post "Hero."
1. Chapter 1

Clark sighed as he entered into the little farmhouse on Hickory Lane. He'd been up since five AM since, as his father had often proclaimed, the cows didn't feed themselves. However, when he got up before even the sun rose, he wished there was a way to teach them how to feed themselves or that he had a few farmhands. He'd have liked that. He'd been doing the bulk of the heavy lifting on the farm since he was ten and he loved the land dearly, but the work ground him down. Besides, despite his unique relationship with the yellow sun and his upbringing, Clark was not a morning person.

It was eight AM and he knew his cousin and Lana would be up and preparing for their own busy days. Besides, he could always use a second breakfast.

However, when he entered into the Kent kitchen, he only found Kara at the table, eating soggy cereal while leafing through a copy of Cosmopolitan, and, damn it. He did not need that to start giving her ideas about things to do with Jimmy freaking Olsen.

"Hey," He called as he sat down at the table and reached out for the box of Cocoa Puffs (yeah, his mom would kill him for the lack of nutrition but he was only human...erm, close enough...and he needed sugar).

"Kal," She replied, circling frantically at her paper. "Don't distract me. I'm almost done with my quiz."

"Do I want to know what you're being evaluated for?"

She looked up and smirked at him. "It probably wouldn't help you sleep."

He shook his head and started eating his cereal. "I'm having a talk with Lois. Those can't be good for you. From now on, she can buy you Highlights or some National Geographic ."

"But I need to know the ten secrets to make my man scream."

"Me ripping his arms off is secret number one." Clark groused. "The second would be you wearing a burka from now until the time I get my first official gray hair."

She snorted. "You know, you have nothing but double standards, Kal. You two don't even try to keep it down. Seriously, even if I didn't have superhearing, I could hear you yelling through the wall. Now you want me to wait."

He blushed. "I...we didn't..."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't mean it. It's not your fault you're virginal and excited."

"I'm not!"

"Okay, there was that time when you didn't have powers, but it's got to be completely different like this and you know it. It's like someone just took you to Disneyworld for the first time and all the rides were lineless and free."

"Lana's not a ride."

Kara giggled. "Sure sounds like it to me."

"Kara!"

She sighed again and set her pen down. "Please, Kal. Let's do some basic math. I was sixteen when I left Krypton and, honestly, I'm really hot. I'm not a virgin. So wanting me to take things slow with Jimmy is just you being stupid and overprotective."

"You're my cousin."

" Cousin is that key word. I'm older than you, technically, and we've all proven that the humans in the equation won't die. Thanks for that."

He blushed again and dug silently back into his cereal. He loved Kara, really he did. He was glad she was both back from Detroit and, thanks to some intervention from the Manhunter, back to her normal (sliding scale) self. However, living with Kara was like living with Lois all over again. He didn't always need blunt at eight o'clock in the morning. Besides, the way she talked about it was cheapening the whole thing. It wasn't like he and Lana had just jumped into things, after all.

No way.

It had taken six years to finally come together as a couple and nine months after that for him to finally get over his fears.

Honestly, it wasn't that he'd been all that over his fears when he and Lana had finally...you know. Things had been falling apart so hard after everything with the Phantom. He'd held off from intercourse because, despite what the Kawatchee held and what he'd seen in Jor-El's memories, he still hadn't been sure he could do it. Well, thanks to the Phantom, they all knew that someone with exactly his strength could do that and do it safely.

Of course, it didn't mean he still hadn't had a hundred neuroses and nightmares and hesitations.

It was irrational but so was his fear of heights. That was how phobias worked, after all.

But Lana had stopped just giving subtle hints or dropping innuendo. Over the weeks since Kara's return and the Phantom's death, she'd started bringing it up daily, and she always alluded to him when she did it. It had become clear to Clark that, no matter how much Lana might love him, she wouldn't stay in a celibate relationship with him.

And he'd desperately wanted to keep her, to prove to her how much he loved her.

Ironically enough, to prove that he could be as much of a man as the Phantom had been.

The first night he'd been so nervous. God, he'd barely moved at all at first and he'd kept his eyes clenched shut the entire time because they'd burned and itched like when he'd been only fifteen. It had been fumbling and awkward and definitely not the thing epic romance was made of. But he hadn't killed her.

He hadn't even hurt her or, embarrassingly enough, gotten her off.

But they'd had almost two months since to practice and he felt his cheeks heat up again at the thought. Kara was right. It was awesome and, now that he'd finally gotten the heat vision under control and stopped accidentally shredding the sheets, it was about a hundred times better than the few times they'd done it when he'd been human. Of course, if he admitted that, she and Jimmy would never leave her room.

God, his mom was so going to kill him when she visited and found out the farm had been turned into some kind of flop house.

On the other hand, if Lana kept falling asleep pillowed against his chest with that satisfied smile on her face, he didn't much care.

Still, while Lana was undeniably happy with him, something still felt missing. She was there in the bedroom, but nothing else seemed to interest her. She was always over at ISIS. She left while he was still in the fields and came home late. He didn't think that after everything she'd gone back to Lex spying, but ISIS had other projects that occupied her time, and he wasn't a part of that. She came home to him, shared a little warmed over dinner and his bed, but it was just...

He was being stupid.

He'd only seen his parents marriage up close and not every couple could work a farm together. Lana had her own life and he had his, and he'd never ask her to stop helping the meteor infected. However, even when he tried to visit her, there were always meetings and she didn't have time for lunch. He tried, at first, to split his days between his girls. He saw Chloe for lunch now almost every day and he'd love to spend some of that time with his girlfriend too, to feel that she cared about his hero stuff or the farm or his squabbles with Kara the way Chloe did. He knew Lana did. She was just busy.

That was all.

Just busy and stressed and non-profits were hard to keep running.

Everything else was fine. God, at night it was great.

He was just asking too much.

"KAL!" Kara yelled, letting out enough air to make the curtains flutter.

His head snapped up. "What?"

"You were giving me the hundred yard stare."

"Thousand," Clark corrected absently.

Kara sighed. "I didn't mean to completely embarrass with the sex stuff."

"You didn't." He lied.

"I just...could you guys be a little quieter and could you be a little less overbearing older brother?"

"I'll think about it." He said, offering her a shy smile. "So, um, was the cereal already out when you woke up?"

Kara nodded. "I heard Lana drive off when it was too early to be an o'clock. I don't do seven AM when I don't have early shift." She shook her head as she poured out more cocoa puffs. "That's the third time this week she's been gone."

"I hadn't noticed."

"I have." She replied, petulantly. "I miss the pancakes."

"Lana's not mom."

"Okay, then I miss seeing her around. We used to talk and stuff. Now she's so busy."

He shrugged. "I'm sure it's just a big month for ISIS or whatever. It's not a big deal, Kara."

She frowned at him. "Come on, don't tell me I'm the only one who's noticed Lana being absent."

"Kara, just...oh Hell, tell me inane facts about Jimmy."

Her eyes lit up and Clark still had no idea why. He'd never really understood what either Chloe or his cousin saw in Jimmy Olsen. He was a nice enough guy. He was just so...Jimmy. "Well, he's going on assignment to Kansas City. They have this like huge Sci-Fi convention and he's going to get the Geek's Perspective for the Life and Style section." She smiled as she reached for the fruit bowl and started peeling open a banana. "I was thinking of going along."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

"I love the irony." She quipped, finishing opening the fruit and then the smell hit him and it was so strong it made his stomach churn.

That had been happening a lot in the last few weeks. He'd been meaning to ask Kara about the chances they were going to develop supersmell because he didn't want to smell the stalls any better than he did now. It wasn't like he didn't smell more acutely than the average human, he did. But the spikes lately were akin to the horrible pounding in his head when the superhearing first developed.

God, it was unbearable.

The banana smell felt like it was trying to slip down his throat and he really was going to ralph.

Clark sped so fast away from the table that he knocked the chair over in his rush. His face was resting against the cool side of the bowl and most of his breakfast was floating in it, when Kara knocked on the bathroom door.

"Kal? You know I heard all of that, right? Iad , I heard your stomach gurgling at the table. Can I come in?"

Clark groaned and reached over to the handle, pulling it down and flinching at the loud flushing. "Yeah."

The knob turned and Kara crossed the room, coming to lean against the old claw foot tub's rim. "You threw up."

It wasn't a question.

He nodded. "I...it's happened a few times this week. I didn't want to make a big deal about it. Ollie asked me and Chloe for a favor and there was a a lab break in and it could have been something weird and Kryptonite-based there since it was Lex's. I mean, usually, if something gets ingested it has to take a while to work out of my system."

Or that was the rationalization he'd been using since everything had started a week ago. The first time he'd done it, he'd had a small heart attack after because there were some things he just didn't do, and he hadn't thrown up since he'd been seven and climbed up into Greg Arkin's stupid tree house. But he hadn't wanted to scare Kara, Lana, Chloe or his mom so he'd just sucked it up and hoped it would go away.

It hadn't and he had been trying to face up to the fact that he was going to have to ask for help.

Of course, now Kara was sitting right there.

She frowned. "What happened the last time you ingested some kind of Kryptonite?"

He shrugged and then regretted it. He was still so dizzy and he fell against the tank, swearing a little when it cracked. He was going to have to replace it. "When Lois kissed me, mom made me sweat the stuff out so it only lasted the night. I also swallowed some once and it took about seven hours."

"And it's been a week."

"Maybe whatever I got was really concentrated this time."

"Kal, if you had green K in your system, it would have worked its way out by now or you'd be dead."

"Well, yeah." He admitted. He'd figured that out when he'd thrown up the second day. "But that leaves magic and there aren't any witches in Smallvile anymore. Also, I haven't been dimension hopping lately. There's nothing else it could be." His tone was plaintive as he finished and he really hated that.

Kara's frown deepened. "Kal, actually, there is one more thing it could be."

"I'm not dying, am I?" And now he was definitely whining.

"No, of course not. J'onn and I weren't lying. You and I are going to be around for a long time."

"Well that's a mild relief." He snarked. Immortality was something he hated thinking about, but he didn't want to keel over in the next week either. He was only twenty more or less. "So it's not Kryptonite and I'm not dying."

"No," She hedged, biting her lip and that scared Clark worse than anything. Kara never hesitated about anything.

"Kara?"

"You're really not going to like this."

"Oh god, I am dying."

"No, what's with the death thing? You're not dying."

"I'm going to grow a tail."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Okay, that made no sense. You do know that, right?"

"Well what could be so bad that even you won't spit it out?"

"How much information did you get from the caves or the Fortress about our history?"

"Um, not much. I never did all that training stuff and considering that every time I see him Jor-El takes away my powers or brands or brainwashes me, I don't feel too bad about that."

She snorted. "Both our fathers suck. Anyway, our history is colorful."

"You think?" He snarked.

"Now there's no need to be rude. I'm trying to help you out."

"Then actually say what you're trying to say."

She nodded. "There was a plague on the planet. It was a huge pandemic that infected everyone."

"Like biological warfare?"

"No, this was thousands of years before Zod had ever been born. The plague rendered the entire planet's female population incapable of carrying a child to term. They could become pregnant-the eggs were fine-but the embryos couldn't implant. Are you following me here?"

"I...where are you going with this?"

Kara didn't answer him directly, but continued instead. "We've always been scientifically advanced and not in the compared to Earth way but in the compared to everyone else way. When it was taking too long to come up with a cure for the plague, we came up with an alternate solution. If the women couldn't carry the babies to term then the men would."

Not for the first time since his parents had shown him his spaceship, Clark's mouth hung open as he tried to figure out just what kind of planet he'd been from. "Excuse me?"

"The men were altered so they could and would implant the embryos after sex into their bodies. You see all that really happened-"

"I don't need details. Details are not good. Besides, this is nuts. I saw your memories. Mom...Lara was pregnant with me."

"That's true. It only took a decade to fix the plague and then everything went back the way it was supposed to, but the DNA was still altered. It's like a recessive thing."

"A recessive thing?" He started and now he was pretty sure he was shrieking.

"Kal, take a breath."

"I am breathing. I'm doing great. My cousin just went crazy and what she's implying just can't be possible."

"I'm not crazy. If you'd bothered to do any training, you'd know about this little historical footnote."

"Footnote?" He parroted. "I think this is more than a footnote. You can't be serious. It's just...it's not possible."

"We can fly." Despite the situation, Kara smirked. "Okay, I can fly and you mostly fall on your ass. Is it that big a shock that you could do that?"

"Yes!" He yelled and the shower curtain blew. "It's a big shock. It's the biggest shock since I opened my spaceship and found out I was supposed to take over the world."

"Yeah, how's that going?"

"Not funny." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can't be. It's just...I can't be and you know, you could have warned a guy-not that I'm saying you're right-but a little advanced notice would have been appreciated."

Kara sighed. "Don't get huffy with me. It's not my fault. It's a contingency plan. It only ever kicks in if the woman's infertile and I thought you said Lana was pregnant just last year."

"I said she thought she was. Thought . It turned out Lex faked the whole thing."

"Well clearly we know why now. She's defective."

"I...you were supposed to tell me things like this. What's the point of having a cousin from my home planet if she doesn't fill me in on the need-to-know stuff, and this," He said, gesturing to the toilet. "I'd have needed to know."

"You didn't ask and it was thousands of years ago, Kal-El. It's like you thinking about not refrigerating pork for humans being bad or something. It's like a non-problem now. Besides, I wasn't even sure we could do that with humans. I mean, there were tall tales but I didn't know they were true."

"Well maybe there not." He added hopefully. "Maybe I'm just dying."

"You seem really thrilled by that chance now."

"Oh it's a better option." He lamented. "You're wrong, Kara. It has to be something Lex made. I'm not-"

"You can't even say it."

"I won't say it."

She rolled her eyes but when she spoke her tone was gentle. "Kal, clearly there's an easy way to settle this debate." She finished and then squinted at his stomach.

Stupidly, Clark put his hands over his belly. "You're X-raying me."

"Well, duh."

"Stop doing that!"

"Yes, because our hands are so made of lead." She chirped, breaking out into a wide grin. Then she gave a very unKara-like squeal. "I'm going to be an aunt." Clark grunted as the force of a hundred and ten pounds of Kryptonian wrapped his arms around him. "It's so exciting."

"It's not exciting. You're hallucinating."

"Kal, this denial thing you do isn't cute anymore."

"It's not denial. You've just gone insane." He groused, yelping when she pulled him to his feet and forced him to stand in front of the mirror. He sometimes forgot Kara was as strong as he was. Girl sure didn't look it.

"Do it, Kal."

Irrationally, he clamped his eyes shut, as if that would make it go away. "I'm not doing it."

Strong hands gripped his arms. "You are going to do this or so help me I'll call Chloe."

His eyes popped open at that. He couldn't let Chloe in on this, especially if it were just a case of Kara going nuts. "Fine." He replied, staring into the mirror. It was going to be fine. He'd squint, see nothing, and call J'onn over to help him with his cousin's mental breakdown. Taking a deep breath, Clark focused his X-ray vision and then he blanched.

There was something there.

He'd always sucked at biology, but he could definitely make out the shape of something sitting in a sac low in his abdomen.

"It has a tail!"

Kara rolled her eyes theatrically. "It's perfectly normal. I read the encyclopedia set in the living room when I was bored one day. Babies start out looking a little like tadpoles. The tail thing's not permanent."

"It does look like a tadpole." He said and then, oh God, he was nauseous again. Even with his speed, he barely made it to the toilet in time to vomit. He leaned over and wretched again, vaguely aware of Kara holding the wet cloth to the back of his neck.

"It's okay, Kal."

Defeated, he slumped down to the other side of the toilet, leaning his head against the tub. "How's it going to be okay?"

"Shh, I'm working on the comforting thing. This is what you say." She replied, matter-of-factly as she rubbed his shoulder blades. "You know, by the size, I'd say you're at about six weeks."

"Perfect."

"No, dummy, perk up your hearing."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Clark sighed and concentrated. He could make out the usual sounds of the farm-the cows mooing, the horses neighing in their stalls, the three familiar heartbeats of himself, Shelby, and Kara. However, underneath all of it, he could hear a fluttering, watery noise, moving in a regular rhythm.

"I can hear it."

She nodded. "See, I was right. You're not going to die and I'm going to be an aunt, well, second cousin, same difference."

Clark put his head down in his hands. "Great, Kara. I'm thrilled for you. You're going to be an aunt and I'm going to be a mom."


	2. Chapter 2

Clark was lying down on his bed with a pillow over his face. He'd never hated his superhearing more, even when the Black Canary had made his ears bleed. Now that he was aware of the sound, he couldn't not hear it. There it was. The tell-tale barely heartbeat sounding out even above his breath and Kara tapping foot.

This was real.

Oh God, he wanted his mother.

Except then she'd kill him.

"Kal? Are you okay?" Kara asked hesitantly. "You haven't said anything in an hour, and you didn't go out to do more cow things. It's never good when you don't want to bond with cows."

Despite himself, Clark removed the pillow from his face and glared at her. "What is it that you think I do all day?"

"I have no idea. It can't take that long to feed and milk those things and you can repair stuff faster than a human can blink. I guess I figured you just hang out on the loft sofa and then fuck off at the Planet with Chloe."

"I do other stuff."

"Really?"

"Sometimes there are meteor mutants and Lex does something evil on a weekly basis and it's hard to keep up with repairs."

She held up her hands. "I desist. Jeez, Kal, don't get hormonal already."

"I'm not."

"Right, of course you're not."

He flopped back onto the bed and put the pillow back over his face. "I'm screwed."

"Clearly."

"No, you know what I mean. I can't have a kid."

"Oh no. We're not starting with that again. Men on Krypton could technically get pregnant. I think I explained that."

"No, not the 'I can't.' I mean you're right and I obviously can and did , but I can't take care of one. I can't even take care of me. I mean, it takes everything to keep the farm financially stable. I haven't even had time to go back to college yet and I mentioned about the evil that lurks in this town-lurks!-and then there's you."

He could hear her scowling. "Excuse me?"

"You're a handful on your own. I can barely keep up with you."

"I'm not four!"

"And you're the one tipping off the D.D.S or trying to get Jimmy into your pants or sidling up to Lex."

"Hello! Memory loss, that's not my bad."

"And you ran away in a snit. I have a kid. I don't need a second one."

"I'm not that bad." Kara huffed. "I hold down a job, thank you very much, and I seem to notice me helping you with the hero stuff lately. Who blasts Kryptonite for you? Oh yeah, that's me. Besides, you say this all like you're alone in this. First of all, I'm an excellent babysitter. I took care of you all the time."

"Yeah and that's creepy."

"As if it's not a mindfuck for me to be taking care of my chubby baby cousin's chubby baby a few months after the fact," She replied tartly. "Second of all, Lana's the mom and she has a ton of money from the divorce settlement. Also, there's Aunt Martha and her salary from the senate and we make diamonds, Kal. Tell me you couldn't fence one or twenty. Financially, the little guy would be set even if it were just you, Lana, and the pile of Lex's money she has."

There was a bitterness there that Clark didn't like. He hoped it was because Kara felt like Lana should contribute more to the upkeep of the house and not because she still, and despite the way he'd tried to manipulate her, felt that Lex could be trusted. Sighing, he flung the pillow to his side on the mattress. "Okay, so financially it's not a problem, but I don't want a kid right now. Lana and I...well everything's still working itself back together after the Phantom and her marriage to Lex and everything. It's just not a good time."

Kara considered the information. "I can see your point, but, Kal, that's moot now."

He sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Why? If I went to the Fortress, it could...you know." He said, unable to voice the logical conclusion of that sentence.

Kara narrowed her eyes at him. "Get rid of it. That's what you mean."

He looked down at his hands. "You don't have to be so angry about it."

"Kal, it can't be done."

"How do you know?"

"First off, we are...were really good genetic engineers. There was a lot of tweaking done."

Clark grabbed at his stomach. "You think?"

"Well, part of that was designed to prevent what you want from happening. Even if it's really tiny, you and the baby are directly sharing a network of veins and arteries. They'll separate naturally when it's time but before then, you'd bleed to death too."

Clark's jaw dropped. "They designed that in intentionally? What happened if there were unplanned pregnancies?"

"We didn't have those. Every child was tried for."

"Really?"

She nodded. "The state was nice and intrusive. That's so not the point. The point is if it were tried, you'd die. The second is that the Fortress is the only thing that could do it and it wouldn't. There's no way the A.I. would do that, not when there's just two of us left to begin with. Third-"

"I think I've got your point."

"Third." Kara said, her tone clipped. "You couldn't tell the Fortress anyway. Seriously, Uncle I'll-leave-you-stranded-in-Detroit should not be allowed near the baby."

"I..." Clark said, hesitating. Jor-El may have been the greatest scientist on Krypton but the A.I. was defective as Hell. Its idea of good parenting was pretty much blatant sadism. Good, he'd already screwed up about a dozen times over by not being an ideal Kryptonian. If the A.I. had a fresh start with someone who could start brainwashing at infancy instead of seventeen...

It would be a disaster.

Instinctively, Clark tightened his grip on his stomach. "You're right. The A.I. can never know."

"Shouldn't be hard. We never go to the Arctic anyway."

He nodded. "True. Would J'onn?"

"The Manhunter is his . I wouldn't tell him if I didn't have to."

"He's psychic and pops in unannounced." Clark reminded her. "I don't think we can hide anything from him."

"But we don't have to rush off and tell him or go near the Fortress." She conceded. "But you get why this isn't something you can just get out of, don't you?"

"Yeah, stupid genetic engineering." Clark groused as he picked nervously at his comforter.

"Kal?" Kara said after a pause.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to have to tell Lana. She'll notice eventually for one thing and for another the avoidance is beyond stupid."

He sighed and threw his head back against the headboard. "I know. I...I just need a little bit of time to think this through." He knew he needed to tell Lana. The baby was half hers unless there was such a thing as Kryptonian immaculate conception. Still, he was dreading that conversation. Lana hadn't been thrilled to be a mother at all with Lex, even back when she'd still been in love enough with him to get engaged. Besides, this was weird-really weird-like Chloe could devote a whole wall just to this one event.

Every time he told Lana more about Krypton or that part of himself, he always had this paralyzing moment of terror where he imagined her deciding that that was the last straw.

It was stupid. She hadn't gone anywhere after superstrength or heat vision or his pathetic attempts at defying gravity, but he was still always afraid there was a limit to how much weird a girl could take.

Kara sighed back. "You're not going to tell her right away, are you? You do know that eventually you'll start to show, right?"

"I do. I just...I don't want to upset her."

"What's there to be upset about?" Kara said in her usual oblivious tone. "You two love each other and did I mention cute baby?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Just how often did you babysit me?"

"A lot. You were actually pretty cute and I've always had a soft spot for babies. The point is it's going to be fine."

"Uh-huh," He replied drolly. "Could you just do me a favor. I need about a week to figure this out. There has to be some serious planning in how to break it to her and I just need to think it over."

Kara pursed her lips. Clearly she was not a fan of that idea. "Fine Kal, but if you don't tell her by next Monday, I'll buy a box of cigarettes for her."

Clark pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's cigars, Kara."

"Well those then."

Two days later and he was running on no sleep and about as nervous as a Belle Reve resident being overlooked by a LuthorCorp employee. The stupid second heartbeat wouldn't stop. It was much quieter than his, but he still wasn't used to having that second pitter-pat sounding in his ears. It was like now that Kara had forced him to pick up on it, he couldn't get it out of his head.

He hadn't told Lana anything yet. It had been easy to stay mute. With her harried days-she'd mentioned something about trying to secure a neighboring property for expanding the foundation and annoying property fines-and Clark's extra efforts in the bedroom, talking had been the farthest thing from their agenda. Still, he had to tell her and soon.

This was not something that should be left to Kara's stampeding elephant approach.

Hanging out with Chloe was worse. Even when he'd been in eighth grade and he'd struggled to hide only his strength and speed from her, she'd seen right through him. He'd spent the last two afternoons, he'd visited her, comparing notes about the latest from Ollie and keeping everything very much about business.

She'd given him a few odd looks, but she hadn't pressed.

His whole avoidance plan was really working great.

Then, like always, Lois happened.

"So, GA didn't find anything off the coast of Seattle?" Clark asked, picking half-heartedly at the ham and swiss he'd bought for himself.

"Nope. Clark, I've told you every day this week: all's quiet on the Lex front. Not that I don't like your new dedication to the mission but you seem surprisingly focused, even for you." Chloe remarked, biting into her croissant. "Seriously, you haven't talked about anything around the farm at all."

He shrugged. "Well, Kara only talks about Jimmy and I thought that would be awkward for you."

"Please, Jimmy and I were over six months ago. I'm over him. Besides, and don't ever tell Kara I said this, he offered to get back together over Christmas."

"He what?"

She nodded. "He did and I said I didn't want to, and I didn't. Jimmy's sweet and he's been very supportive of my coming out. He even keeps throwing out truly awful costume ideas, but he's not the guy. He's too immature but he's perfect for Kara. They can be equally impulsive together."

Clark studied her closely and noticed that she wasn't forcing a big plastic smile onto her face. She meant it. "I'm happy for you, Chlo. I...I just didn't want you to feel like I was going to, I don't know, pick Kara over you or anything. If you hated Jimmy coming by the farm, I'd have slit tires."

"You would not have."

"No, okay, so that would be wrong." He conceded, chewing on his sandwich and leaning back on the old, orange break room sofa. "However, I'd be prepared to hate him a lot for you."

"That what best friends are for." She replied.

"Yeah, I-"

"Smallville? Seriously, when are you just going to suck it up and get a job in the mail room or something." The strident voice of Lois Lane called as she stomped into the break room.

Clark was about to say something snide back when the strongest smell assaulted his nostrils. Oh god, it was nauseating and made his stomach turn and just how many onions was Lois going to eat today?

Lois, oblivious as always, sat down at the table across from Chloe and pulled out a chili covered in the onions Clark's newly enhanced sense of smell had already picked up. "Really, I'd almost call this stalking, but all you ever do when you get here is watch Chloe type. Yeesh." She said as she bit into the hotdog and now the chili was sliding down her cheek. It was just too much.

Clark, whose stupid stomach apparently also worked in superspeed, didn't even have time to make a polite exit to the restroom. He just leaned over and heaved into the trashcan next to the sofa.

Startled, Lois dropped her hot dog. "Smallville? Are you okay?"

Clark didn't answer but kept dry heaving over the couch's armrest. Barely, he registered Lois patting him on the shoulder. "Take a breath, Clark." She said more quietly. "Trust me. I've had a bunch of hangovers before. This always passes."

Clark sighed and slouched back onto the sofa. "I...thanks, Lois. Hey, can you get me some water or something?"

She nodded. "Sure. I can go to the kitchen upstairs and I'll be back with the perfect cure. You like coffee grounds right?"

"Uh..."

She shook her head as she flounced off. "Don't answer that. I'll be back soon."

The second she was gone, Chloe rushed so quickly to the door that you would have thought she was the one with superspeed. She reached for the lock and turned it shut. "What the Hell was that?"

"What was what?" He asked weakly, still trying to ignore the smell of Lois's hotdog.

Chloe narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Don't play games with me, Clark. You never get sick. The last time you did, it was a leftover present from the Phantom Zone and since I know you haven't been doing any dimension hopping, something else is up."

Clark forced himself to stand and started for the door. "It's nothing, Chlo."

She stood her ground in front of the door as if he couldn't just lift her out of the way. "We have to talk about this now. You're sick."

"I'm not. I'm fine, more or less."

"More or less?"

"Kara and I talked. She gave me the clean bill of health."

"Yes, because being a nineteen year old girl qualifies her to know jack shit about anatomy."

"Chlo-" He said and then brought a hand to his mouth. He could not stand here with onions anymore. "Look," he said, choking everything back. "We'll talk but can you spare some time to go back to The Talon? I can't do it here. Lois's hotdog is killing me."

Chloe arched an eyebrow. "You're sense of smell is doing this? Since when do you have trouble with that?"

"Since about six weeks ago." He deadpanned. "Please, I just need to go."

Chloe nodded and unlocked the door. "Fine, but you, Mr. Smallville Shuttle, are taking me with you."

He picked her up and sighed. "I wouldn't dream of not doing it. Lois will be pissed enough at me when we're gone."

"Clark," Chloe said, shutting her cell phone. "I called my editor, Bernstein, and made up some story about food poisoning from the deli we went to. I don't have to be back in all day."

"You didn't have to do that." He said, still staring at his boots.

"You're sick. It's an intergalactic traveler 411 and I specialize in those." She replied, sitting next to him on the futon. "Do you need me to do my thing?"

He sighed. "No, this is not something you can heal."

"Well I've never tried an alien disease before but if those stupid space rocks made me this way in the first place..."

"No, I mean there's nothing wrong with me, at least not in the sickness and injury way. There's nothing for you to treat."

"And yet you still managed to ruin the Planet's wastebasket." She smirked at that. "You know what's funny?"

"What?"

"Lex would pay millions for a trashcan of alien vomit, really."

He paled at that. "We shouldn't have left that there."

She patted his knee. "Don't worry. I called Lois and told her I took you back to Smallville. She advised I keep the windows rolled down, by the way. However, she took care of it for you. Also, you owe her big time and she expects to be paid in chocolate."

"How did I get a big sister again?"

"Just lucky." Chloe quipped. "Sullivan-Lanes love you."

"Lois does not love me."

"She has moderate affection and would probably beat the crap out of anyone out to hurt you. That's love for Sam Lane's girl. Go with it, Clark."

He sighed. "Well, I do appreciate it. I didn't mean to do that."

"You know, humans rarely mean to get sick either." She said, smiling. "What's going on. You've been weird for at least two weeks."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Define weird."

"You haven't been coming by as much and when you do it's all business." She said, her voice quiet and wounded. "I thought that maybe you were going to ISIS for all your research needs and humoring me on the side."

He shook his head and took her hands in his. "I promised I wasn't replacing you as a best friend or a sidekick and I haven't. I just was avoiding you."

"That makes me feel worse."

"Not because of you." He added quickly. "I've been throwing up for ten days and I didn't want you to know. Since you can tell everything about me, even when I'm being impersonated by certain intergalactic serial killers who shall remain nameless, I knew you'd figure out I was sick eventually." He gave a rueful laugh. "Looks like I was right."

"And it's a good thing I do notice these things about you. Humans shouldn't be sick like that either. You'll get dehydrated and dizzy and all sorts of things. You should have said something."

He sighed. "I didn't want to worry you."

"Well that worked great. I was worried while you were avoiding me, dumbass." She snarked, quirking her head at him. "What's wrong and why does Kara know what it is? She's not a doctor."

"Yeah, but she, um, has seen this condition before."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Condition? God, you are sick!"

He flinched. He'd never meant to make her upset for his sake. It had been the impetus behind his whole avoiding her plan in the first place. "No, I'm not...exactly. Mostly, I'm just really embarrassed."

She frowned. "So being embarrassed makes you vomit?"

"No, I...oh god." He said and he really wanted to pace right then but his stomach was still flip-flopping.

"Clark," she prodded not unkindly. "Do I need to remind you about the best friend code. You know everything about me and not just the meteor mutant thing. You know that I secretly watch Full House reruns because I thought Uncle Jesse was hot and that I had a notebook of truly bad poetry I used to write in ninth grade and about that time I tried to dye my hair red and it came out orange. These are embarrassing things you can't reveal on pain of death."

"I know." He said, smiling despite himself. "But this is way more embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than the hormone-activated heat vision?"

"Everyone always brings that one up." He grumbled. "Chlo, you can't tell Lana this yet, okay?"

"Yet?"

"Uh-huh. I promised Kara I'd tell her, I just needed some time."

"So you're telling me first?"

"I wasn't going to, but now you have me cornered." He admitted. "Stupid question, but can you keep this between you, me, and Kara for a few days. I promise it's nothing bad."

"Of course. I've never blabbed a thing about you yet." She replied, smiling, and a warm feeling spread through Clark's stomach. She always made him feel safer somehow, which was silly, considering that, meteor power aside, she was just one human girl. "So, what have you got? Is it as mind blowing as 'I'm from a galaxy far, far away?'"

"Depends." He said, looking back down at his feet. "How do you feel about male pregnancy?"

Chloe was silent.

Really, really silent.

Like so silent he had to look back up to make sure she was still in the room.

"Chlo?"

Her jaw was working up and down in rapid succession, the way it had at the Yukon. It was the second time in their friendship, he'd left her speechless.

Finally, she managed to croak out, "Come again?"

Wow and there were so many conversations he never thought he'd be having with Chloe. He hadn't even thought of this as enough of a possibility to even imagine it in the first place. "Kara says...well, I am pregnant."

Chloe's eyes widened. "You're a guy."

"I was aware of that fact."

"Um, not to be mean, but you and Lana...She's the mother, isn't she?"

"She'd have to be." He replied, blushing. Even if he brought it up most of the time, he couldn't discuss his sex life with Chloe without getting chagrined.

"Oh...okay then, but you're um...well, that is to say, you're not-"

"The same species?" And Clark involuntarily flinched at that. He didn't like thinking of himself as so different from his friends and family. Whatever it meant to be alien, he certainly didn't feel that way. Still, Chloe had a point and it was the same one he'd argued over with Kara. "I know, but we're close enough, like Dr. Willowbrook's people said."

Chloe nodded. "Okay, so just to review: You and Lana are going to have a half-human and half-Kryptonian baby and you're the one carrying it."

"I, yeah, that about sums it up."

"And just to check, Kara's not playing some really mean practical joke on you and Lois didn't spike my coffee this morning?"

He shook his head. "Kara X-rayed and then when I didn't believe her, I X-rayed. Either I have a scarily large parasite or I'm pregnant." He put his head in his hands. "Honestly, I'm not sure which I'd prefer."

"You're not going to cry now, are you?"

He sniffled a little and shook his head. "No. I'm not a girl here. I'm just really, really fucked up right now."

"Well, technically-"

"Chlo, not helping."

Chloe sighed and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry?"

"Was that a question?"

"I'm not sure. 'Congratulations' did not seem to be the sentiment you were looking for."

"It's not. Kara tried that and it made me feel worse. By the way, she's just thrilled to be an aunt."

"She knew that would happen?"

He sighed. "She said she knew it was possible but it's highly unlikely. I mean, different species and men apparently only had the babies-I still can't believe I said that sentence-when the women involved were infertile."

"Oh. I always thought-"

"Yeah, well me too." He said.

"Clark?"

"What?" He mumbled from around his palm.

"You know you can look at me, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Now who's asking questions?" She quipped, putting her hands under his chin and prodding him to look up at her. He obliged but still tried to avoid eye contact. "Hey, what do you know? I didn't disappear."

"I know, but this is weird."

"I sometimes die for up to 18 hours at a time and can raise the dead." She offered.

"I am such a freak." He said and, no, his voice wasn't getting all wavery and he wasn't sniffling.

Chloe reached up and hugged him again. "Well, I have to tell you. Your cousin flies and I'm better than Florence Nightengale. You're in good company, Clark."

"But I win. I placed gold in the weird Olympics."

Chloe pulled back and quirked her head at him, studying him with her intense gaze. "You're afraid you're going to gross me out."

"No." He defended weakly.

"You are. You're afraid that you finally did something so weird that I wouldn't like you anymore. In the words of my cousin, 'that's just retarded.' Clark, I don't care what you do. You know that, right?"

"You say that now." He replied, hesitating. "But then I'll be out to here." He added, holding his arms out like they were cradling an imaginary beach ball on his stomach.

"Right, that will be the thing that puts me over the edge. You really are a moron, you know? Even if I didn't know a cyborg and an atlantean and two different types of travelers, it wouldn't bother me at all. You're still you."

"With something extra," he added glumly.

"Is it wrong that I'm at least kind of excited like Kara. The baby...is it a boy or a girl?"

"Too little to tell." He said.

"Well the baby is going to be gorgeous." She added hopefully. "Since today is the day for superawkward questions and who knew there was an awkward beyond factor eight?"

"With me clearly anything is possible, and I know where you're going with all of this and the answer would be no, I can't."

"So you have to be committed, huh?"

"Biology is a bitch."

She snorted. "I could have told you that about three days a month."

"Visuals, Chlo." He griped.

"So, I have to ask one more thing and then we can both pretend this isn't happening for a whole afternoon if it will make you feel better."

"You'd be willing to go into denial for me?"

She shrugged. "I've loosened up on my negative feelings toward denial when I got my own death certificate. I didn't think about that for months. If you want, I'll get the chicken noodle soup from a can and some really lame action movies and we'll watch and pretend it's any other Saturday, you know?"

"I'd like that." He said, squeezing her hand. "So what was the question?"

"Why did you hold off telling Lana. After Kara, genius she is, told you the new, shouldn't you have zipped right over to ISIS to talk to her?"

"Maybe."

"And it never came up at all on the farm?"

"Surprisingly, when you have a girlfriend she doesn't ask you if you're pregnant very often."

"Ouch, now there's the sarcasm I haven't been missing." She replied. "You know that you need to-"

"I know. Kara threatened to tell her if I don't first, but I just...I can't. This is somehow worse than telling her I'm a Kryptonian. Superpowers are one thing, but this is something else."

Chloe smiled sadly back at him. "She loves you, you know."

"Of course." He said, pushing back all the arguments they'd have over her preferring the Phantom to him. "I know she does. I just...I'm being stupid. I tell you what. I'll tell her tomorrow. Kara has off from The Talon and we can have a late dinner, all four of us. The science stuff sounds better coming from her anyway."

"Clark," she said, hesitating. "This is the kind of thing you usually tell your loved one in private."

"You've told someone you're pregnant before?"

"Of course not." She said, tiredly. "But I don't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't be." He squeezed her hand more tightly. "I'm neurotic about this thing which is kind of ironic since I used to be ironic about sex which is how I got into this mess in the first place. I'd feel better if you were there, please."

Chloe sighed and worried her lower lip. He grinned back at her, giving her an extra large dose of Kent puppy eyes. Finally, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, Clark."

"Thank you."

"So, besides the vomitting, have there been any other side effects?" She asked and he could practically see her pencil-holding hand twitch.

Chloe had thoroughly exhausted him the summer he'd been human by running through a list of every question she'd ever had saved away on the off chance she met an alien. He somehow had a sinking suspicion that even before she moved to Smallville, she'd had that list and one for Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, too. After the superbreath thing, she'd asked a whole new round.

He didn't mind, really. It wasn't exploitive it was just who Chloe was. If, for some insane reason, he ever did come out to the public, she was going to have a Hell of a best seller on her hands.

Clark sighed and leaned back on the sofa. God, he was tired. Throwing up mixed with speeding took a lot out of him. "Not yet. I'm sure something truly fucked up will happen because the sun here hates me. However, there is one thing."

Chloe's eyes glittered. "What?"

"I hear the baby's heart beat all the time."

"Aww," She said in a girly moment. Shaking sense back into herself, she added. "You don't seem thrilled about that."

"I hear it All. The. Time." He replied. Technically, he heard Chloe's heartbeat all the time too. He had no idea why that was. Her voice was the first point of focus he'd ever had when his hearing had activated, and he had no trouble seeking it out. When she'd died in the hospital, it had been her heartbeat he'd heard first even before her screams and he'd been aware of the steady beat on some level ever since.

Ten months of her as the white noise he had to hear to get to sleep, and it never bothered him.

It did make him wonder why he still couldn't do that with Lana.

"Is it that loud? I mean, you have to hear a lot of sounds all the time."

"I do and it's not loud. It's actually very soft compared to, um, other beats."

"Like Lana's?"

Yours.

"Um, yeah, but it's just so constant and I'm not used to it." He snorted, "Maybe because I know that it's like a countdown for seven months until I'm responsible for a whole other person full time. It's overwhelming."

"Then don't think about that part." Chloe said forcefully. "I'd think that being able to hear the heart beat would be reassuring. You'd always know that the baby's healthy."

"I guess." He said, tuning in even more strongly to the quiet swishing that had become the soundtrack of his life over the last three days. Despite the fact that he was scared out of his mind and stressed with the thought of telling both Lana and his mother (not to mention that the Manhunter and Lionel would eventually figure it out), there was something reassuring about the sound.

Something strangely right.

All of a sudden, he felt a weight on his stomach. Glancing down he frowned at Chloe. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wanted to hear it."

"Did the meteor rocks give you superhearing?"

"Um, no?"

"You can't hear it, Chlo."

"Sorry. I got over-excited. I can be girly about some things, once in a while." She huffed.

"It sounds like a very fast and very tiny washing machine."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you're a better writer than that. That's a shitty metaphor."

"It's what it sound like!" He defended.

"Uh-huh." She said, starting to stand up.

"Where are you going?"

"I promised you chicken soup and DVDs and I keep my promises."

"I know." He said, grabbing her hand. "But you don't come with superspeed and I don't really want to be alone right now. We can watch something Lois has."

"She only has Behind the Music for hairbands."

"Then we'll learn new fun facts about Mouse."

"I think it's Ratt."

"Same difference." He said, his tone plaintive. Fuck it. He'd blame it on whatever weird, stupid alien hormones his ancestors had hardwired into him. "Just stay."

She plopped back onto the sofa next to him. "Always, Clark."

He smiled and turned on the TV. "Ah, Chlo?"

"Yeah?"

"Your palm's on my stomach."

"Yeah, it is."

"You can't feel anything yet!"

"Well, I can pretend I can. It can be pyschosomatic. The little guy or gal should be acquainted with Aunt Chloe nice and early."

Clark sighed as he picked up the remote. "My stomach just became public property, didn't it?"

"And how."


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe eyed the dishes cooling on the counter skeptically.

"What?" Clark asked, reaching into the oven to pull out the turkey sans oven mitts. "You keep staring at everything."

"It looks like Thanksgiving."

"I was nervous." He snapped, putting the turkey on the counter nearest the table and starting to slice.

"You cook when you're nervous?"

"Not really. My mom used to, though."

"Martha's the best cook I know. How nervous was she?"

Clark sighed. "I'm kind of high maintenance."

"Yes, we've established that." Chloe replied, leaning against the island. "Seriously, she must have been nervous all the time."

"You know," He replied, cursing under his breath when one of the turkey's legs snapped in half. "You're here to make me feel calmer. This wouldn't be helping."

"I always make you calmer. I'm a great influence."

Clark sighed. He couldn't really argue with that logic since it was true. "I know and I also know that this is total over kill but I thought that if I made everything perfect it might, you know, lessen the blow a little."

Chloe patted his shoulder affectionately. "It's a big blow, Clark. Mike Tyson delivered this blow. There's not enough cranberry sauce in the continental United States for it."

"Thanks, Chlo."

"Clark," she said, picking off one of those crusty onion things from the green beans. "It's going to be fine. Like I said, Lana loves you."

Clark kept slicing but it didn't stop him from noticing the way her voice had changed in pitch just slightly. Chloe loved Lana, too. He know she did, but it sometimes felt like she had to force out her more supportive statements. "I know that, but I just-"

"Needed everything to be Martha Stewart-y. I totally get that." Chloe replied. "So, do you need any help?"

He paused and set the carving knife down delicately. "Don't take this the wrong way. You're a great friend and you have a lot of talents but cooking is not one of them."

"I can stir stove top or something."

"No, you really can't. You and Lois are in a contest to see who can give me food poisoning first, even though at this point Lois appears to be winning. You set the table. That's more than enough."

"I noticed that I set the table for only three people. What happened to Kara?"

He rolled his eyes as he set the sliced turkey platter on the kitchen island. "She picked up a late shift at The Talon. She didn't want to, but the girl who needed to switch covered for her last week when she went on a date and she owed her one. I wish she were here because she does the exposition of this stuff better than I do."

"I doubt that."

"Well she knows the biology stuff, but she does tend to bulldoze right into it without any thought." He amended.

"This is a delicate situation," Chloe conceded. "It's better that she doesn't just torpedo Lana right out of the water."

"I thought you said-"

"She is going to be fine with it." Chloe finished. "You just have to handle this carefully. I lived with Lana for three years, remember? She just needs a delicate touch. Kara's a lot of things, but delicate isn't one of them."

"Tell me about it." He replied. "She's really excited. I think she was eyeballing my mom's office with paint swatches this morning. It was distinctly creepy."

"She's trying to be helpful."

"I know but that's a rush into things, you know?"

Chloe nodded and picked at another onion. "So, how are you doing, aside from being nervous for Lana?"

He slapped lightly at her hand and put the top back on the casserole. "Medically or emotionally?"

"A little of column A and a little of column B."

"In the column A, nothing's wonky except for the throwing up part, which I really hate, by the way."

"Humans don't exactly love it either."

"I know that."

"Your powers?"

"Everything is working the way it's supposed to." He said, feeling like he was fourteen again and it was the week after he'd gotten X-ray vision. "Obviously, it is. If my powers had started failing or going into overdrive, I would have had to tell you guys sooner."

"But instead you got to lie for a ten days. Brilliant plan." She snarked.

He arched an eyebrow at her. "You kept the meteor power practice secret from me for weeks. Don't do that stone throwing thing."

"I know."

"Emotionally, I'm a wreck. I still can't sleep because I can't imagine telling Lana."

"Is the heart beat keeping you up still?"

"No, I...actually it's a lot better." He replied, and it was. He and Chloe really had spent the day watching Lois's tapes of Behind the Music and mocking all the lycra and big hair. But while they'd done that, he'd tuned in deliberately and listened to the baby's heartbeat. Chloe's point had made it seem more soothing than anything else. The baby was healthy and it relieved him a lot to know that.

"That's good." Chloe replied, nodding brusquely. "I was worried about you going without sleep."

"I can do without sleep for a long time, if I have to. I just like it an awful lot."

"We all like sleep. All nighters are not that much fun."

"I'm fine, Chlo, besides the obvious." He said, gesturing vaguely at his stomach.

As she'd been doing all day (she still had "food poisoning" if her editor asked), Chloe reached out to touch his stomach. It was annoying as Hell when Kara did it, but when he felt Chloe's palm through his t-shirt, he didn't mind it at all. "This is still so cool."

"Glad I'm as great as the BC."

"No, she's smoking cool. You're just the regular variety." Chloe replied, smirking at him.

He shook his head as he sat down with her at the table. "Smallville seriously screwed with your weird-dar, Chlo."

"It fine tuned my weird-dar." She corrected and then gazed up at the clock. "When was Lana supposed to be in?"

"She'll be here." He said, getting this odd flash of waiting up for the Great Pumpkin. "She's just been busy."

After the first hour, Clark remitted and told Chloe it was okay to eat dinner without her. He'd even gone as far as to reheat everything for her with a quick blast of heat vision since it never tasted as good microwaved. Chloe had finished her second helping of mashed potatoes and he'd worked his way onto a slice of pie, which, despite Chloe's exclamation was not as big as her head, when Lana bustled through the door.

It was still a shock when Lana came back from ISIS. Around the farm, she always wore clothes that looked like something she would have worn before she went to Paris, but now it was always dark black or gray tops with her hair, which he loved down best of all, pulled into a severe bun. She looked like a grown up and, considering their current predicament, she really was. Still, he never, even after all these months, expected to see her that way. She was so powerful and in control.

In a word, Luthorian.

"Clark, I'm sorry. The lawyers delayed me an extra hour signing all the final documents for the acquisition." She said, trailing off and glaring pointedly at Chloe. "Chloe, you're here for dinner."

Chloe looked down sheepishly at her plate and put her napkin back in her lap. "Yeah, Clark invited me. Kara was supposed to be here too for a whole bonding thing but she had to work."

"I see." Lana replied, her posture going more rigid.

Clark frowned. He knew that Lana hadn't been visiting Chloe at the Planet as she had last year, even though her offices were only several blocks away. Chloe'd also mentioned something about a fight while the Phantom was around, but the girls had seemed to at least be working better. They got along fine when they'd all been trying to rescue Kara and Lois. Of course, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Lana and Chloe just hanging out.

However, Chloe'd always been welcome on the farm, even back in eighth grade before, frankly, Lana knew he'd existed.

"Yeah, well," He said, trying to break the tension. "It was a whole dinner thing, like I said. There's tons of stuff, if you want it. I sort of went crazy pretending to be mom after I did my chores this afternoon."

Lana eyed the assortment of country fixings and smiled sweetly back at him. "Clark, you really didn't have to do all of this."

"I wanted to."

"I set the table." Chloe added.

Lana did chuckle at that. "Thanks."

"Well, it's a dangerous mission, but someone had to take it." The other girl quipped as Lana placed some turkey and green beans on her plate and sat down next to Clark at the table.

"I am sorry you had to start without me."

Clark shrugged. Truth be told, he was used to it. His mom had run late all the time in Topeka and he had to spend most of his time in the Planet because you couldn't pry Chloe away from a computer when she was on a deadline. He just had to be more understanding about everything, like he'd been with ISIS and their research.

"It's fine. Sometimes I have late nights and mornings because of meteor mutant stuff. I get it."

"Thank you." Lana said, leaning over to give him a polite peck on the cheek. "So, why did you go all out, Clark. I got the feeling from the way you insisted that I get home early for this that something was up. It's not Lex, is it?"

"That was my first reaction." Chloe said. "No, Lex hasn't done anything evil today."

Lana looked almost crestfallen at that. "It's not someone escaped from Belle Reve?"

Chloe flinched a little but said nothing.

"No, it's not that either."

"Is it that Martian again?" Her words light enough, but her tone was slightly clipped. J'onn made her uncomfortable. Clark wasn't so blind that he didn't see that. She was polite enough to him when he visited, even remembered to have extra Oreos stocked in the house just in case, but she never stayed too long in the same room with him.

Unconsciously, Clark moved his left hand over his stomach. "No, it's about us."

Lana glanced haughtily at Chloe. "Does she have to be here for this?"

He nodded. "It's nothing bad, I promise. I don't have anything to fight about. It's...well, it's supposed to be good news."

She turned back to him and smiled. "Well what then?"

"I," he hesitated, shooting Chloe a quick glance before he continued. "Lana, how do you feel about children?"

"Clark, this really isn't the type of conversation you have with three people in the room."

"Don't mind me." Chloe replied airily. "It's 'just Chloe,' remember?"

Lana's lips pursed but she kept her focus on him. "Some day, sure, but I don't want to be pregnant again. I know I wasn't the first time, but the hormones I was on made me dizzy and nauseous and gave me these awful migraines. It was like being sick for five months and I hated it."

Clark paled. He didn't want to imagine throwing up every day for five months. "I know, but what if you didn't have to be pregnant?"

"They're not going to let us adopt children if we're not even married and, you've said it enough yourself, the farm's barely stable as it is. We don't have the best track record."

He had this weird flash where he realized that this was the very same type of argument his parents must have had years ago. "No, I don't want to adopt."

"Okay, now I'm confused because short of a stork actually coming, there aren't any other options. Besides, even if we did either of those things, this just isn't the right time. I just lost a baby and we're still new to living together. Kara's here and ISIS is expanding. You're not even through college yet."

Clark reeled back a little. The truth hurt and the truth was, he should have gone back to college the previous fall, long before his mom had even left Smallville. Still, it sucked to be reminded of it, especially when Lana hadn't gone back herself. It just made him feel dumber somehow. "I know, but you'd want one eventually right, like when we're older, like 28 or something."

Lana frowned up at him. "Of course I'd want one."

There were four heart beats in the room. His was steady, the baby's was still barely a flutter, and Chloe's was its usual quick yet strong self. Lana's, however, had just sped up a little. Clark shook his head. It was probably because the whole conversation made her nervous. Lana loved him and she adored Kara. There was no way that she'd...

It was just him being stupid again.

"I...would it be that bad if we had one now?"

"Clark, do you know something about me that I don't because, honestly, I know for a fact that I'm not pregnant."

"We know." Chloe said, quirking her head at him. "Clark, are you going to say it or am I?"

"Say what?"

"I'mpregnant." He said, blurring his words so fast that both Lana and Chloe stared open-mouthed at him.

"I have no idea what you just said." Lana prodded.

"I'm pregnant." He said again, quietly, staring at the wood floor and wondering if he could just sink right through it if he concentrated hard enough.

"Clark, this isn't a very funny joke." Lana replied, setting her knife down on her plate.

"I didn't mean for it to be."

"Lana, it's not. He told me about it yesterday after he threw up at the Daily Planet and I freaked out. Kara's seen it and so has he. It's real."

Lana turned to him, all big eyes and wobbling chin. "You told Chloe first?"

"She found out first. I was trying to find the right way to tell you and I got sick because of Lois's stupid hotdog and she hounded me until I caved. I was trying to ease you into the whole thing. I swear I didn't set out to tell her first. Kara only knows about it because she's the one who figured out what was wrong with me."

"I...there has to be a mistake."

"No, there's really not. Kara and I both X-rayed and we're never wrong. Besides, I can hear the baby's heartbeat all the time. The baby's real."

"Did you know?" Lana asked quietly.

"Know what?"

"Did you know that it could happen?"

He didn't like the implications of that sentence, as if he'd set out to trick her somehow or just been super irresponsible. "No."

"The way Kara explained it, it's a vestigial trait, like their version of an appendix. It hasn't been used in thousands of years." Chloe supplied.

"But it works now?"

Chloe didn't even bat an eyelash as she replied. "It's the sun. It does all sorts of weird things to Clark and Kara. It just happened to make the vestigial active this time."

Clark let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He had not wanted to reveal the second blow to Lana, to let her know that one of the many injuries she'd suffered in Smallville had left her unable to fully conceive. That would have crushed her.

"Kara never even thought it was important to mention, so she didn't." He offered. "If I'd known, well I'm not sure if I could have done anything differently but we'd have been more careful."

"But we're not-"

"No," Chloe said, cutting off Lana before she had to say that painful word species out loud. "But Kryptonians are very close, definitely close enough."

Lana nodded and tried to summon all her Luthorian poise, but she still looked confused. He knew the feeling. "How far along?"

"Kara said about six weeks. She, um, might have memorized the pregnancy section of the encyclopedia." He added helpfully.

"That makes sense." Lana replied calmly. "Can we...is there any way to..."

And even though he'd asked Kara the same question not four days ago, the implication stung. She didn't want the baby. He hadn't either. God, he was terrified about all of it, but the heartbeat wasn't tell-tale anymore. It was soothing. The baby was theirs and how sad was it that they were so unsure about wanting it.

"No," Chloe replied, sensing his distress. "It can't be done without killing Clark."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry." Clark replied and why did it feel like someone had just died.

Lana smiled back at him and took his hand. "There's nothing to be sorry about. It's just really unexpected but we can deal with it. It's not like the world's ending."

"Been there and done that." Chloe said.

"Seriously, Clark, I'm not upset." She said, her voice soft and lispy. It reminded him of the way she greeted J'onn when he showed up on the farm. "This is just a lot earlier than I thought I'd be a mom. After everything with Lex..." and despite himself, he flinched at her mention of the other man. "I just wasn't ready to do this over again, but how could I not be happy?"

"See, I told you it was going to go over fine." Chloe chirped.

"I know the farm's not that stable. I mean, between me and what Kara makes, we do pretty well around here and mom sends stuff home. A baby would complicate that but you have the settlement."

Lana frowned. "I sunk all of that into ISIS. It's an expensive operation to run with the staff and the real estate, the computer equipment and the doctors. I'm managing to keep it running but I don't just have ten million dollars in a pile somewhere."

Chloe frowned to match Lana's expression but didn't say anything.

"Oh," Clark floundered. "Well, Kara suggested making diamonds and having the Green Arrow fence them for me. It's not quite illegal but it is a delicate thing to do. I can't let it be obvious that we can make them."

"The Green Arrow? You'd get him involved." Lana huffed.

Clark sighed. They'd had this same argument over the last two months after Lana had figured out he knew who the Green Arrow was and, by extension, that he'd worked in the past with some of the "terrorists" lex had complained about. Lana hated having secrets between them about anything. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She still kept what she did at ISIS under wraps even when he asked about it, but she wanted to know everything about what he did. But Justice was separate. Those were the rules. Oliver, even when his cover had been blown, had never told Lois about his abilities. He owed him the same courtesy.

"He's a legitimate outlet. If money's needed, it's needed." Chloe said, her tone cold. "There's not much left from the settlement and the farm is just self-sustaining. This is a viable alternative."

"But it's also a shady group." Lana pointed out.

"That Clark and I are apart of. As if we'd do anything evil." Chloe replied. Lana's other problem with Justice was that she'd offered her and her experts' services to them and Oliver had declined. Clark suspected she was a little jealous that Chloe was still working Watchtower for Oliver and Company and she was being kept on the outside. Chloe muttered something under her breath that a human wouldn't have heard, "Besides, you'd know about shady organizations."

"I'll call Arrow tomorrow and see what I can do and I won't tell him anything about why. He owes me." And after that mess he'd made two Thanksgiving, he still owed him.

"I'll try to give as much as I can. I didn't plan for this." Lana added. "I'm sorry."

"And the money is going to a good cause, so I'm not going to be selfish about it." Clark replied and he could make out Chloe still scowling out of the corner of his eye.

"So that at least gets everything out of the closet," Chloe said, frowning apologetically at him. "Sorry that wasn't really the best way to put that."

Clark pounded his head lightly on the table a few times. "That's okay. I'm sure I'm in for a lot of that in the next few months."

"I didn't mean to."

He sighed and sat back up. "I know."

"And we have something at least plausibly financially secured." Lana replied, breaking up their banter. "What about medically."

"Medically?" Clark yelped.

Huh, he didn't know he could yelp.

"There have to be doctors in on this." Lana said calmly. "Unless the Fortress-"

"No way. The Fortress is nuts. We're not telling it anything." Chloe replied.

"Well then there have to be doctors somewhere." Lana replied.

"I don't like doctors." Clark said automatically, feeling sweat break out on his forehead and he only did that when there was Green K or he was really nervous.

"And we're not talking about 33.1 here, Clark. The staff at ISIS is excellent."

"ISIS?" And he was definitely yelping now. He did not want to go to a doctor and he really didn't want to go to ISIS. He might have forgiven Lana for what happened with Casey Brock, but that didn't mean he trusted her staff at all. He knew they'd tried, that nothing on Earth could have prevented let alone reversed the damage that Fine had done to the lab tech, but he still didn't want to go there.

He loved Lana desperately, but something about ISIS made him nervous.

"Well why not? They're my people and I know they're competent and that they will be discreet. Besides, you're doing everything else."

"I thought you hated being pregnant." He defended.

"I hated being drugged." She corrected. "But you're going to do all the important things. You'll be carrying it. Hell, you can already hear it. You'll be the one who nurses too."

"I'll be what?" He said and he had not thought ahead that far and he hated being Kryptonian. He absolutely fucking loathed it.

"But on the plus side, you won't be the one getting stretch marks." Chloe quipped.

"Oh god," Clark groaned, letting his hands straying over his hips. "I'm never having sex again."

"It's too late for that." Chloe said, patting him on the shoulder.

"I know," Lana continued. "But for all intents and purposes you're the mom."

"I'm not exactly." Clark offered lamely.

"And I want to do something. I can give the baby the money I do have and I can provide the doctors."

"But they're doctors. Doctors and aliens don't mix." He replied. "There's always scalpels, and I don't like needles at all."

"They're going to take care of the baby." Lana corrected.

"The half-alien baby." He countered.

Lana flinched. It was slight but he could tell just the same. " Our baby."

"I know, but what if they want to do experiments on us?" His hands clutched his stomach again in response.

"They won't. They'd have to answer to me if they did." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

It still didn't make Clark feel better. "Well maybe I can just talk to Arrow. He has connections."

Lana narrowed her eyes at him. "You'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Like what? How did we get to yelling about things already?" He asked desperately.

"You've already gone around me and lied to me. You knew you were sick for a week and didn't tell me. Then when you find out what's going on you tell her first. Now you'll run off to the Green Arrow instead of letting me help. How selfish are you?"

"Lana-" He started, but she'd already started rushing up the stairs. "What did I do?"

Chloe shook her head. "Well I guess it was too much to hope the hormones would make you smarter."

"What?"

"Clark, Lana wants some control of the situation." She said, standing up and walking her plate to the sink.

"Really, you think?" He groused, getting up as well. "So would I."

"You know what I mean." Chloe replied, scraping her mashed potatoes into the disposal. "This is the new reigning champion of awkward situations and she wants to be there and the medical facilities at ISIS are the best thing she can do."

"I don't want to go."

"Well, she makes a great point. You can't trust Jor-El, since he's clearly cracked. You can't just go to a normal doctor for a check up or you really would end up in Area 51. Even Ollie's docs are questionable. Lex poached them once before."

"But," he said, lowering his voice. "It's ISIS and someone died there. I know why they died. Rationally, I get that, but something just feels wrong. You have to know what I'm talking about. You don't want to tell Lana about being infected or go to her for help either. I know she'd never do anything to me or the baby, but I don't trust her doctors."

"Have you ever trusted any doctor ever?"

He shrugged and started wrapping the turkey pieces in tin foil. "There was Helen Bryce, but she sold my blood to Lionel so I guess she wasn't that trustworthy either."

"We don't have a lot of options. Kara might know some anecdotes about things that happened a millennium back, back she's not a doctor. She can't help you in this, and you don't even have a clue, Mr. It's-just-green K-sickness." She said, turning back to lean against the sink.

"I know," He said, sighing and crossing his arms over his chest. "But they're scientists , Chlo. If this were a National Geographic special, this would be the part where the snotty British narrator says how we're natural enemies."

"We wouldn't let anything happen and it's not like they could do much anyway, right? Lana'd never tell them about the Green K and that's it. It's not like scientists specialize in magic."

"Alright." He said, reaching for the dishtowel to scrub off his own plate. "I'll do it."

"Good then. Now, I've gotta go back to my apartment and you have to go upstairs and grovel, which is a skill you should be good at by now."

"You don't have to hurry out."

"Oh, I so do. The part where I was here was a mistake. I shouldn't have been here."

"You're family." He said and he noticed the way her shoulders slumped when he said that. He had a feeling it would have made her feel a lot worse if he'd said that she was just like Kara.

Except she wasn't.

Chloe didn't feel like a little sister or a cousin at all.

He wasn't sure if there was a word in either English or Kryptonian to describe what she was to him.

"But I'm not really. I mean, Lana calls me a sister, but we're not, and we're best friends, but you wouldn't have had Pete had the table for this. I think I made things worse."

He laughed bitterly. "Nothing could make this worse, except having to explain it to my dad. He'd have had a heart attack before I even finished." He said, giving her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm glad you were here."

She blushed as she grabbed her purse. "Thanks, Clark. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Doubt it." He said, fighting back a bit of nausea that had nothing to do with whatever weird fluxes of alien hormones he was receiving. "Doctor's appointment."

"Right." She fumbled. "How about day after?"

"Yeah, break room, like always. Ham and swiss."

She rolled her eyes. "I hate ham and swiss."

"I don't," He said smiling as she slipped out the back door.


	4. Chapter 4

He waited until Chloe was back in her apartment before he walked up the stairs. He didn't have to wait for her call or anything. He just listened for the sound of her voice as she greeted her cousin. Clark sighed and pushed up from the sofa. He was stalling and he knew it.

Walking heavily up the stairs, he came to stop outside his bedroom door. Despite everything, he and Lana had never moved into his parents bed. It had never felt right to sleep there, and it had felt down right sordid to do that where his mom and dad had slept. No, this was his room, plain and simple.

Always would be.

However, there were only two bedrooms in the house. He had no idea what to do about that. They needed more room, just like he needed stupid doctors, and about a million excuses, a way to keep the farm running.

Clark let his head rest lightly on the door frame. It was just going to get more complicated.

"Clark." Lana said coldly.

He looked up and walked into the room, coming to rest on the foot of their bed. "Hey."

"She's been gone a while."

"Yeah, I know." He said, leaning over to pull off his boots. "I wanted to give you time to cool down. I said things I didn't mean."

"Did you?" She asked.

He glanced back at her. Her hair was down and she was wearing her pajamas in preparation for bed. The summer he'd been human and they'd practiced stealing kisses and other things, she'd always worn one of his t-shirts to bed or, at most, an old t-shirt and pair of cheerleading shorts of her own. Now she wore a silky, deep purple chemise.

It didn't look like it fit in on the farm at all.

Clark nodded. "I shouldn't have had Chloe over. You were right. I really did want to make it a family thing. Kara knows all the biology and I don't and, frankly, really don't want to think about it right now. It was going to be all four of us and then-"

"It was much more like having a third wheel."

Clark flinched. He'd never thought of Chloe like that. "I am sorry. I was so nervous about telling you and having her here helped."

Lana crossed her arms over her chest. "And you shouldn't be nervous, Clark. You should be able to trust me by this point."

"I do. It's not about trust. It's about being really embarrassed. I haven't even told my mom yet, although a lot of that is the fact that she is going to kill me. It's just...that is not a sentence anybody has an easy time with. The fact that I'm a guy and a traveler just makes it more awkward."

"What did you expect me to do when you told me?"

"I don't know." He lied. In some scared corner of his heart, the same one that had had terrible nightmares of her stabbing him with meteor rock, he'd been afraid she'd leave him.

"That's not good enough."

"Fine, I thought it'd gross you out. Hell, it grosses me out." He said, folding his hands on his lap. "I thought you'd be disgusted with me."

"Clark, that's stupid." She said and her voice had switched then from harsh and cold to soft and lilting. "I'm not."

He smiled at the gentleness in her tone but still noticed how she stayed hovering by her nightstand. Chloe'd hugged him. Of course, he hurried to remind himself, he'd also just refused all her help. She was probably still pissed.

He sighed again and, standing up, pulled out his own pajamas. "I'm sorry I was irrational about it. I'm neurotic like that."

"I've noticed." She said, pulling back the covers and slipping into the bed. "But you know I'm right about ISIS, don't you?"

He nodded as he slipped on a long pair of flannel pants. "I don't have any choice in the matter. It's that or try and do it by ourselves and I don't have a clue how to do that."

"You can be less resigned about it. It's not 33.1, Clark."

"I know." He said, easing himself down into his side of the bed. "But you have to see where I'm coming from too. It's not about you or not trusting your judgment in who you hire." Although he was still uncomfortably confused about how Casey Brock had died in Lana's care. "It's about me. I've been told every day of my life since before I even really understood English that doctors were bad and that no one could know anything about me. That's eighteen years. It's everything my parents worked against and it's really hard and really scary to ignore it, but I will because I want our baby to be healthy."

"Thank you." She replied. "That's all I ask. I can help. I have the resources to take care of the baby and I'm just asking for the right to use them."

"I know that then."

"Good."

Then the silence stretched between them.

"Lana?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't want the baby at first either. I know it's a no choice deal, but I was really...no, screw it, I am really scared about the whole thing, but I'm happy about it to. It's earlier than I wanted, but I wanted to have a child and I wanted it with you."

"Me too." Lana said, still on her side of the bed, "But I just assumed that, you know..."

"I know what?"

"Well, I figured we'd have to adopt. I honestly didn't think we'd be compatible."

He rolled over onto his side and, propping his head on his elbow, looked at her. "Are you upset that it's mine?"

"No, Clark, of course not." She said and this time he couldn't definitely hear the thready, speeding rhythm of her heart.

Fuck it. She was stressed and they'd just had a fight. It didn't mean anything.

"If it's about the superpowers, the baby might not even get any or they might be a lot weaker than mine and even most of mine didn't happen until I was in high school or, you know, ever." He said, thinking about the way Kara sored and he sank.

"It's not." She said, leaning over and kissing him on the lips. "I just wasn't expecting this."

"That's sort of a mantra at my house." He said sadly. "Welcome to the family." He sighed. "We're good, right? We're not fighting anymore, are we?"

"No, but I don't want you to surprise me again."

"I'll try not to get knocked up next time." He said dryly.

"No, I mean, not with Chloe. I know you didn't mean it, but there are things that just the two of us have to deal with and now there are a lot more. Kara and Chloe and your mom, they might have ideas about things, but this is about us."

"I know. I wasn't...I'm not putting Chloe ahead of you. She was just trying to be supportive."

"I'm not supportive enough for you?"

"You are." He added quickly, reaching around to squeeze her close to his chest. "You definitely are. I love you."

"I love you too." She replied, giving him one last lingering kiss. "Get some sleep. We'll have a big day tomorrow."

He nodded and pulled her in tighter.

If she was a little stiff in his arms, surely that was his overactive guilt and imagination too.

*****  
>Clark was busy trying very hard not to pass out as Lana and Kara rode with him down to the basement labs at ISIS. He knew that this was the best thing for the baby or, at least, the best option they had available. It couldn't just be left him, Kara, Lana, and Chloe and a bunches of towels and hot water.<p>

Yeah, he'd never been sure what the hot water was for either.

Still didn't make him feel any better when the elevator doors opened and the hallway he entered into was lit with flickering halogens. Everything in this part of ISIS reminded Clark way too much of every LuthorCorp lab hallway he'd ever been in and, instinctively, he reached out and clutched Kara's hand. He'd have grabbed for Lana's but he was nervous enough to break bones.

Kara glared at him a little but, upon catching his eyes, her expression softened. "You don't have to be quite so melodramatic about everything."

"Despite practically living in Smallville Med Center," Clark replied. "I've only been to a doctor twice and the second time I died. I really hate them."

"They're not so bad." Kara quipped. "I've been to them tons." She turned her head and considered the murky hallway. "Of course, that was with real medicine. Do they still do leeches here?"

Clark paled. "I am never letting you read anything again."

"Shh," Lana hissed. "Kara, everything is fine. It's not up to Krypton's standards, but they are some of the best doctors in the city."

Because Lex and Lionel have the others already working for them. Clark thought.

"I know." He hedged, following her down the hallway and to a sliding metal door. Lana leaned over and pressed a fairly complex sequence into a number touch pad and it rolled back on pneumatics.

"That's not too ominous, is it Kal?" Kara asked, unaware of the irony in the question.

"It's fine," He replied evenly, about to step through the doorway when a familiar flash of blond hair came into sight down the hallway.

Chloe came trotting up to them as fast as her ridiculously high heels would allow. "Hey, I'm guessing I didn't miss anything, right?"

Clark's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You're here?"

She nodded. "It was really bad food poisoning. I'm thinking of suing the deli. I even got the number of that guy on TV who advertises between the ab roller and the ads for spray on hair."

"I..Chlo, you didn't have to come." He said delicately, in deference to the sour look on Lana's face.

"Don't be stupid, Kal. I invited her." Kara replied breezily.

"You invited her?" Lana asked.

Kara nodded. "Of course. I've already seen it. In fact," she said, squinting down at his side. "I'm looking at it right now and it's really not doing anything but humans miss out on so much."

"Ah Kara, this really isn't a field trip." Clark replied.

"I know but Chloe's family and I know she wanted to come so I said she could. She can keep me entertained since hospital rooms are boring. Besides, she hasn't seen the baby yet."

"You mentioned that."

"Humans are kind of blind."

Clark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Today is really not the day to brag about how much better we are because I'm not feeling it. Also, Kara, before you do these kinds of things you really should ask me or Lana."

"It would be appreciated." Lana said.

"Are you kidding? If you'd let me, I'd have invited Lois and Jimmy too."

He glared back at his cousin. "Maybe we can sell tickets. Are you fucking kidding me?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a happy thing, totally for family and friends."

"They're neither."

"I like them."

"This is not a sideshow." Clark snapped.

"Bitch." Kara said under her breath and Chloe moved in between them when he lunged out for her.

"Okay, so let's not kill each other. Clark, you might want to blink back the heat vision. Kara," she said, turning to the other girl. "Before you say something. Think very carefully about if it seems appropriate. If you think it is, just keep your mouth shut, mkay? This is stressful enough."

"Fine." She huffed. "You don't have to be such a muddy blanket about everything."

"You know," he said as they entered into the room, which, to his mild relief was at least brightly lit. "I didn't miss you all that much when you were in Detroit."

"Well that crappy diner is more interesting than your stupid farm."

Chloe sighed. "You know, the whole being the last of your people-slash-blood relations thing really doesn't engender fluffy bunny feelings in you two."

"She's overbearing!"

"He's boring!"

"Okay, no one here is actually four. Just relax, okay." Chloe said, sighing.

Clark blushed. "Sorry, Chlo. I just..." Really don't want to be here and even if my girlfriend runs it, can't shake the evil lab feeling.

"Yeah, Chloe, me too." Kara conceded and he noticed his cousin casting a worried glance at the three men in white coats studying them. His cousin talked a big game, but she'd been scared pretty bad by what had happened with the Department of Domestic Security. She might be used to doctors on Krypton, but she had no great love for researchers on this planet either.

"Ms. Lang," The tallest of the doctors, an older man almost as bald as Lex, said as he stepped forward. "Everything's been set up as you requested."

"Very good then." She remarked briskly and Clark marveled at the cool efficiency of all of it. He had that vertigo again, like he'd had standing in the loft several months ago. He knew there were parts of Lana that were still like the girl next door whom he loved, but there were other sides to her, sides that had been influenced by both Lex and Lionel. He was watching the businesswoman in action.

And yet, it felt completely different from watching his mom in the Capitol or Chloe in reporter mode.

He couldn't put a finger on it exactly.

It just left him a little uneasy.

Maybe it was his fault for just never thinking that Lana could be quite as driven as the other two women in his life.

Yeah, that was probably it.

"Thank you, Dr. Schwartz, and these are your two assistants?"

He nodded and in quick succession the woman with a bun as severe as Lana's and a short man who reminded Clark a little of Chloe's dad shook her hand.

Dr. Schwartz continued. "Drs. Meyer and Russell. Dr. Meyers and I have worked together for years. She's an expert on genetics. Dr. Russell is one of the best obstetricians," and damn if Clark wasn't already starting to hate that word. "...in the country."

"And you can be discreet?" Lana asked, her tone hardening.

"Of course, Ms. Lang."

"I don't need an 'of course.' I need to make it very clear that you will be discreet. You wouldn't like to make me upset. Is that understood. None of this ever leaves this room."

The doctors eyed each other nervously, while he and Chloe shared a glance. This was definitely the Lana who'd maintained the creepy room of Lex Luthor. "Then I promise you that, Mrs...I mean Ms. Lang."

Clark clenched his fist. Everyone in the free world knew who Lana had been married to, and most of them were probably still wondering how far that influence reached. That burned. Lex was the farthest thing from any of this.

"Very good."

Dr. Schwartz nodded and pulled out a clipboard. "Then we'd just need to meet with the patient." He eyed Chloe speculatively. "She's the mother?"

"Excuse me," Chloe snapped, pulling her jacket lapels over her stomach. "Do I look pregnant to you."

"Yeah, that makes me feel so much better." Clark groused. Then he gulped when all three doctors fixed their gaze on him. He'd had too many nightmares to enumerate start out just like this. "Uh, hi."

It was a testament to their clinical demeanor that none of them actually gaped at him. Of course, this was Lowell County and they did work with the meteor infected. Maybe they'd seen weirder than him.

No, scratch that.

There really wasn't anyone weirder than him, even Kara.

Dr. Schwartz took a measured breath. " You're the patient?"

Kara nudged him in the back. "Go on, Kal."

"I, yeah." He said and he concentrated at the floor trying to see if he could get it to swallow him whole. Hell, he could get pregnant. Why couldn't he get an ability he actually wanted?

"Very well then." Dr. Schwartz replied, still calm and collected. "If you'd hop up on the table then. I apologize that it probably won't be long enough."

Kara snorted. "Lana should have at least mentioned the height thing. Kal could play for the WNBA."

Clark rolled his eyes as he hopped up onto the bed. His cousin was such an odd mix of pop culture and alien fast facts. "I...what am I supposed to do here, exactly."

Dr. Russell looked over at him from where he was tinkering with the ultrasound. "Lie back and lift up the hem of your t-shirt please."

"This isn't going to hurt, is it?"

"Kal, stop being a baby!" Kara called.

Chloe slapped Kara lightly on the back of her head. "Remember what I said?"

"Oh yeah."

"Clark," Lana said quietly, threading her hand through his. "Really, I've had this done several times. The gel's a little cold, but it's not painful."

"Oh."

"I'm right here." She said and then she gave him that soft smile of hers and why was he having doubts again?

Clark lay back and pulled up his shirt. Dr. Russell, his hands gloved, rubbed a thick gel over his stomach. It wasn't even all that cold, at least to him, which was one tiny plus in his giant pros and cons column. It didn't really balance out the roughly 5792 other things really fucked up in his life right about then. Dr. Meyers and Dr. Schwartz were standing over his shoulder, staring intently at the ultrasound's screen.

He bet they were both laying even odds that there wasn't anything there.

Efficiently, Dr. Russell ran the wand over his stomach, grazing low over his abdomen and stopping when Dr. Schwartz held up his hand. "We can see it."

"You can?" And despite Russell's resolve, the man really hadn't expected anything to be there.

Clark couldn't blame him. He'd had to check about ten times with his X-ray vision and listen to it before he'd believed it either.

"Yes, there it is." Dr. Schwartz replied, pointing at the curve of the baby's spine and the then moving toward the bulbous section that made the head. "It looks fairly healthy. Heart beat's normal, head's forming nicely."

"There's a tail." Kara added helpfully as she and Chloe clustered around him. He felt like the freaking turkey at Thanksgiving. "Tell Kal it will go away."

"Everything is perfectly normal." Dr. Russell said and then, glancing at Lana, added, "Well aside from the obvious that the patient is male."

"The patient has a name." Kara groused.

"No," Lana replied. "Not on paper. It's all a number. None of this gets tied back to Clark, is that understood? Any notes you keep, they stay in this room. Any files are only on paper and never saved to flash drives or anything else. No evidence."

Under her breath, he heard Chloe mutter, "Only Luthors know how to make evidence disappear like that."

"Yes, Ms. Lang." Dr. Schwartz answered, his tone contrite. Clark really hoped it stayed that way.

"So, heh, there it is." Clark replied. He was actually getting used to the sight of it, since he'd checked his stomach about four hundred times in the last five days to make sure this was still happening. So far, if this were a nightmare, he hadn't woken up and the baby hadn't disappeared.

"It's really small." Kara said. "Not that interesting or that chubby yet."

The three doctors all looked at her and frowned.

His cousin just had a way with words like that.

Chloe's jaw was open wide. "Wow...I...wow."

Clark blushed. "That's a pretty standard reaction."

"It really is there."

"We said that." Kara reminded.

Chloe frowned between Clark and the image.

"What?"

"It's really blurry. I have no idea what I'm looking at."

"It's always like that." Lana replied, her tone quiet and was a familiar one. She'd had it the day he'd revealed everything at the Fortress and asked her to marry him. After all this time, he still couldn't tell if it were reverence or shock. "There's not much to see yet. The eyes aren't really even formed yet."

"It still looks mostly like a blur, a cute blur." Chloe said in one of her odder efforts to make him feel better, but a blur.

"I wish it would grow faster." Kara groused.

"Don't give it ideas." Clark moaned.

"Ms. Lang," Dr. Schwartz prodded gently. "We'd like to do blood draws."

"You can't." Clark said flatly.

"Sir-"

"Clark." He said, not offering his last name.

"Fine then," Dr. Schwartz said. "Clark, it's just a few vials. It won't hurt."

"No, I wasn't being metaphorical. I was being literal. You can't take blood from my arms or anywhere else. The needle won't pierce."

"That's not a problem." Lana replied and she pulled out a lead box from her purse.

Instinctively, he shrank back from it. "You brought green K here?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. It wouldn't do any good anyway because the samples taken would be contaminated."

"That's one way of looking at it." Chloe replied. He noticed that Kara was still eying the box warily.

"Then-" His eyes widened. "You have blue Kry...meteor rock."

She nodded. "I went back to the clock tower. There was still a little left. I kept it in case we ever needed some."

Kara frowned. "Why would we need that?"

"Apparently a time like now, comes to mind." Clark replied, uneasily.

He wasn't sure what made him more distressed, the fact that Lana had kept a piece or the fact that she'd never asked him to use it. The fact that she'd taken it at all implied that she wanted him to give up his powers, at least temporarily for her, and he wasn't comfortable with that. He just couldn't. He'd met Dax-Ur and heard his story and, even now, even as much as he loved Lana, he didn't want to be mortal for her.

Maybe things would be different if he hadn't tried that stunt once before and his father had died because of it. Or maybe it would be different if he hadn't been powerless in the middle of an apocalypse. But both had happened and it had been enough to teach him that there was always a price for trying to get rid of his powers.

Dax-Ur had paid it, too.

Clark had gone back to the old gas station to thank him and found his mourning widow instead.

Brainiac had gotten to the very human man and murdered him.

But, as much as he didn't like the idea that Lana couldn't be happy with him for what he was, he hated the fact that she hadn't even asked him to use it.

He knew why.

She'd wanted to sleep with him while he had his powers, as they'd been, to a degree, that one morning she'd been superpowered as well.

The way she'd been with him .

Apparently ordinary would no longer do it for Lana Lang.

"It's okay, isn't it?" Lana asked. "They need the sample. They have to check on hormone levels and other things for the baby's health."

Kara snorted. "Good luck with identifying the hormones involved. When he still had himself convinced we were both hallucinating, he made us go get those pee on stick tests." She frowned. "You people are really stupid."

"Kara, on topic." Chloe said, sighing and giving his other hand a sympathetic pat. Chloe, too, knew the pains of a cousin who said whatever came into her head.

"Right. We got those ones that are supposed to turn pink, but when he peed on it, it totally turned green."

"Green?" Dr. Russell asked, frowning.

"Well, lime-ish." He amended. "Is that better?"

Lana sighed. It wasn't sympathetic, just put upon. "Kara, Clark, brace yourselves. I'm opening the box now."

"Great, just lump me right on in with him." Kara groused.

Clark understood the frustration. He'd very much wanted to keep to the cover story that Kara Kent was his adoptive cousin. Even if they had to know about him, there was no reason for them to learn that Kara was Kryptonian as well.

"Sorry," Lana said as she lifted the lid.

He could feel the effect of the blue Kryptonite instantly. It didn't hurt him the way that green K did. He couldn't feel it burning through him or making his bones ache. What he did feel was just a sudden surge of energy, the same way he had when he'd slipped Jor-El's ring on. There wasn't pain. There was just a glitch and nothing after.

Kara frowned. "That's it?"

He nodded. "Can you see the baby not using the ultrasound?"

She squinted as his stomach and then gasped. "They are gone."

He nodded and, for the first time in five days, it was silent. He couldn't hear the baby's heart beat. It suddenly felt very empty to him, as if the world wasn't quite real without it and he had no idea when that had happened.

Dr. Schwartz pulled out a needle and, after he'd tied a tourniquet tight around Clark's bicep, shoved it into a vein. He hissed. He'd never had a needle stuck into him that he could remember and it did hurt a little. The doctor went about methodically, putting one vial into the needle after the other until there were four filled with blood resting on the metal table beside him.

"That's it, right?"

"Those are all the samples we'll need for today, yes." He said, frowning at Clark.

"And then?"

"Well, we'll run the basic blood work and report to Ms. Lang tomorrow as she's requested." Clark noticed the way the doctor's fingers edged toward the vials. The man could not wait to look at the results. Clark was pretty sure that after Kara's hormone comment and his reaction to a rock, Lana's team had guessed just how different he was from the average guy.

"Lana," Kara said. "Can you please shut the box now?"

She nodded and flipped the lid back shut. "That's it. See was that so bad, Clark?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing hurt."

"And we'll just come for blood work and ultrasounds weekly. It's not invasive." She replied sweetly.

Clark sat up and wiped his stomach with the towel Chloe handed him. Over his shoulder he caught sight of Dr. Russell and Meyers whispering excitedly and comparing notes. If he perked up his ears, he'd be able to hear everything but he didn't like doing that. Besides, he really didn't need to hear people discuss him like the prized science fair project he was. They'd been nothing but professional-not exactly overflowing with bedside manner-but courteous and efficient.

They certainly hadn't hurt him.

And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was not a good idea.

But it made Lana happy and he really didn't have any other options.

Permanent lab rat outweighed getting brainwashed again. At least in that scenario, he was the only one who got hurt. If Jor-El tried to do anything with him or the baby...well there really might be a crusade and he couldn't let that happen.

Clark sighed and let his shoulders slump as he stood up. "It was fine, Lana." He said, leaning over to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Thank you."

"Hey, doc?" Chloe called, giving Clark a quick, pained smile. "Can we have a copy of the pics. I want one for my wallet and one for the fridge."

"Ooh, me too." Kara echoed.

"Just wake me when this is over." He mumbled as he watched the girls divide up the photos.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

They were sitting at a large conference table. Lana was beside him, holding his hand. It made him feel better but not by much. He honestly had no idea what they were going to say to him. He was pretty sure he'd figured out the basic stuff on his own with nothing more complicated than his eyes and a bathroom mirror. On the plus side, Kara had a shift at The Talon that she could not get out of. He did love her. It's just that he could only stand her brand of unflinching honesty in small doses.

The doctors were sitting across the table from them. Dr. Schwartz was shuffling through his papers, while the other two hadn't taken their eyes off of him since he'd entered the room. There'd been that really awkward part where he'd spit out his gum into a tissue and missed. He'd been picking it off his fingers and making a mess of the whole thing and they'd just stared at him the entire time with this disappointed look on their faces.

Clark assumed he was not what they'd been looking for in extraterrestrial life.

"Doctor?" Lana prodded.

"Yes, I was just reviewing our results." He said, tapping the paper bottoms against the table.

"Find anything good?" Clark asked and he could sound more confident than that.

Schwartz turned from Lana to him and at least he tried to reign in the excitement. Clark wouldn't have known if his heart wasn't racing. "Ms. Lang might have left out a few pertinent details when she recruited us."

"Can't imagine what they'd be." Clark said and he figured whistling at this point would be too theatrical.

"Ms. Lang, you didn't tell us that our patient wasn't human."

"Hey! I'm sitting right here." Clark said. He had to remember not to squeeze Lana's hand too tight in his frustration.

"I'm sorry, Clark." Dr. Schwartz said in that same way he'd heard his mother apologize before hanging up on a telemarketer. "We can't do our job unless we're fully informed."

"I didn't think the details were necessary." Lana replied coolly.

"You were hoping to pass him off as a meteor mutant." Dr. Meyers corrected. "He's not even close."

"And I am still sitting right here." Clark groused. "I didn't suddenly get dumber."

"Quite." Dr. Meyers drawled.

Clark didn't like her already. Again, he found his left hand straying to his stomach. All the doctors he saw on TV were supposed to be nice with bedside manners and everything. Well, not the scruffy looking one with the cane. She'd get along well with him.

"Ms. Lang, we're all professionals here and we need to be debriefed on all relevant facts. I think you'd better start explaining. You could begin with why there's not an atom of carbon in his whole system and work from there."

Well, huh.

That was a new one.

"Clark?" Lana encouraged, giving him a steady smile.

He nodded but didn't take his hand from off his stomach. "I'm from a planet called Krypton." His brain was screaming at him to just shut up from there. His mom was going to kill him. "I don't know very much about it, since I was a baby when they sent me away. It was an ice planet and the sun was red. Does that help?"

"That's all you know?" Dr. Schwartz asked.

"It's most of it. I really don't know much and I've never been to a doctor before when I was feeling normal." Or when his powers hadn't been taken away but only dampened by the blue K. "I have no idea how I do the things I do, just that I do them."

"I see." Dr. Russell replied, jotting down notes on a legal pad.

"What have you found?" Lana asked.

"It's impossible to discern anything from it." Dr. Meyers said, narrowing her eyes at him. He was getting really tired of being stared at. "We're looking at hormones, for lack of a better term, that are unlike anything we've ever seen and they're clearly ones in flux. We don't have a baseline." The way she said it, it made it sound like this was all his fault for not volunteering to be poked and prodded earlier.

He'd gone from not liking her to loathing her already.

It was going to be a really shitty seven months.

"There's not much I can do about that now." Clark replied.

"Your cousin could give a blood sample." Dr. Schwartz said.

"No."

"Clark!" Lana hissed. "It might be a good idea. You're family and whatever you have should be pretty similar."

"Well except for the part where I'm not actually a girl." He groused.

"But you're probably producing whatever your species' version of female hormones are." Meyers countered.

"I don't care. Kara's off the table. She's not a part of this aside from annoying moral support. If I'd had my way, you'd still think she was my adoptive cousin only."

"And we can't tell what's going on or what even within normal ranges if we don't have somewhere to start." Schwartz said. "Ms. Lang, it's your child too, is it not?"

"Yes." Lana said, her chin held up high as she spoke.

"Then you should talk some sense into him, if he won't listen to us. Whatever might have been normal on his planet-"

"Which really feels like Earth now." Clark said tiredly.

"Is ancillary because we don't have those records. All we have are him and his cousin. It would be best for all of us and the baby, if we had her samples as well."

"I see." Lana said. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"We'll keep running the samples and doing comparisons. My P.h. D., as you know, is in molecular biology in addition to the general practice M.D. I have. But I'd like to bring in a chemist at least to the project."

"It's not a project." Clark objected. When anyone else went to the doctor it was a check-up. When he did it, it was with a review board and he was a project .

"Why?" Lana asked, squeezing his hand a little as if that would calm him.

"We need to start trying to figure out these compounds. It's probably hopeless, but the more people we have working on it, the better."

"Lana, no."

She turned and considered him for half a second before looking back at Schwartz. "A chemist, just one, and I'll call you tomorrow to arrange when Kara can come in for her blood work."

"No, no calling. We're not bringing Kara in." He said.

The doctors had finally turned their attention to Lana.

Perfect.

He'd like to say it was because she was the one signing the checks, but he had a sinking suspicion it was because they knew his deepest secret. He wasn't one of them, so he was discounted. Yeah, this was great prenatal care. God, maybe they'd talk Lana into making him live on site or something equally degrading.

"Ms. Lang?" Schwartz prompted.

"I'm sure Kara can come in tomorrow. You can go." She said, staring pointedly at them until they'd left, the door clanging shut behind them. The second it shut, Clark pulled her hand from hers.

"You undercut me."

Her eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You undercut me in front of everybody. I already have a strike against me because they know and they don't take me seriously because of it. Instead of having you back me up, reminding them about me being nice and sentient and everything, you completely ignore me."

"I didn't ignore you." She said. "I heard you fine."

"Heard, not listened." He corrected. "I said I didn't want Kara brought into this and you didn't listen. I said that I didn't want anyone else to know."

"And I heard but those are knee-jerk reactions, Clark. The best thing for the baby is having the best specialists since this is an unprecedented situation for anybody. You told them yourself. Your people didn't even have powers like you do. They haven't had this as part of their culture in millennia. Forget what we've seen here. If Schwartz needs a chemist to do this work, then he can have it."

"And the more people who see me and Kara, the higher the risk goes up." He hissed. "It not about you or ISIS or even Dr. Schwartz who seems, you know, nice and scary. It's just easier to blab if too many people are in on it."

"If they don't even know what you're body's doing, they can't help either of you. Clark, please." She said and he'd heard her voice that plaintive long ago on the loft steps when she'd been the pregnant begging his secrets out of him.

Boy, did she have them now.

"Please what?" He asked, the anger draining from his tone.

"Don't tie my hands on this. Kara's going to give a few samples of blood. It's a lot less than a human would lose giving blood. She'll be fine. The chemist will be someone I approve before they ever talk to Schwartz or see the data. I'm not undercutting you. You're not letting me do anything."

He had let her drag him to ISIS in the first place, but now would be a really bad time to complain about that. "Fine, Lana, but it's a baseline for Kara. They aren't going to keep taking blood or use this as an excuse to get her to show of our powers or anything else. I'm being treated. We're not being tested out of curiosity. I promised her better than that."

"It's a blood draw."

"Fine. That's all I'm saying. It stays at blood draw."

"Fine." She replied, her tone quiet and resigned. Standing up, Lana grabbed her purse. "Are you coming?"

"Sure." He said, trailing after her.

It didn't occur to him until they were at the parking lot that they weren't holding hands.

Week Eight

"Hey!" Chlo called out from behind him and he startled, whipping around in superspeed to face her.

She smirked. "First of all, how did you ever fool me for five years? Second, you have superhearing."

"I do but I wasn't focusing it behind me."

"Heart beat again?"

He nodded. "It's kind of addictive. Plus, it's getting faster."

Chloe frowned and settled onto the old steamer trunk in his loft. "That's a good thing, right?"

He shrugged. "In fully human babies it's normal. Right now its beating twice as fast as yours."

"And yours?"

"My heart's a little slower. I don't breathe as often either so it makes some weird form of sense," he said, frowning back at the full length mirror.

"Have you been up here staring at the baby?"

"Maybe a little. I finished all the chores and Kara's working so it seemed like a good enough pastime."

"Does it look all gray and blurry to you?"

"Nope, that's just the ultrasound." He said. "I can see everything clearly. If I concentrate hard enough I can see the blood vessels and everything."

"That's...why would you want to see that?" Chloe asked, wrinkling her nose.

"They're cute."

She giggled. "Oh man, you have it bad, Mr. Kent."

"Do not. I've always had a soft spot for the cute and defenseless. You should have seen me watch the barn kittens when I was little. I used to do it for hours."

"Uh-huh. Likely story. Someone is smitten." She sing-songed.

"Maybe a little," he conceded. "God, I'm not turning into a total girl, am I?"

She snorted. "Still flannel-covered, still probably couldn't tell your boots from a pair of Jimmy Choos."

"Isn't that guy who directs action movies with all the wire stuff."

"John Woo." She riffed. "Nope, you're still good. Besides, you're the only person who's ever been able to watch the baby without the fancy machinery or the office. If I had someone living inside me, I peek at it all the time. I wanted to see that parasite the one time."

"It's not the same thing." He said, a little affronted at the comparison. "Also yours was way bigger than the baby right now. It was seriously gross, Chlo." He shivered, thinking about the worm he'd seen under class in Lex's room of him. Come to think of it, Lana's old Lex watching room and Lex's room of him were eerily similar. Maybe voyeurism was also a trained Luthor trait.

God, made him wonder what was in Lionel's private rooms.

"What's it look like?"

"What?"

She sighed and her bangs flew up. "What's it look like? I keep looking at the ultrasound picture but even my imagination is not that good."

"Well, it still has a tail and the hands are webbed which still freaks me out."

Chloe's face was carefully neutral. "Is that a Kryptonian thing or a human one."

"Human, apparently it's supposed to go away in a few weeks. It better go away."

"Cool, no tails for the Lang-Kent bundle of joy." She frowned. "You think Kara will be disappointed about that?"

He shrugged. "She won't stop looking at me. I think she's trying to be the first one to decide if its a boy or a girl."

"So much for surprises in this family."

"It would have been nice." He said, giving one last glance at the mirror before sliding down onto the couch. He grinned at her as he crossed his legs over each other and let them spread out onto the trunk.

"You have the whole sofa." She huffed.

"I need space to relax. I'm in a delicate condition."

"Yeah, right. You could throw the tractor into the next county one-handed. Besides, I saw those pictures, the baby's smaller than my pinky by like a lot."

"Half an inch, now."

"You memorized one of those books, didn't you?"

"The whole section at Barnes and Noble. There are advantages of superspeed and a photographic memory."

"And discretion."

"I can flip pages discreetly, mom." He replied, letting his head fall back against the sofa.

"So, speaking of moms, when are you telling Martha?"

"She comes into town on vacation in three days. I was going to tell her then. We're sending Kara and Jimmy far away for that."

Chloe laughed. "I'm surprised Kara didn't call her the first day."

"I threatened to fry her I-pod. She really loves that thing." Clark replied. "Apparently we weren't all that big on consumer electronics, go figure."

"That's a shame." Chloe said, quirking her head at him. "You haven't been by the Planet in the last week or so."

Clark ran hand over his face and sighed. "Testing."

"Excuse me?"

"Blood draws, tons for me and Kara. It's really sucked."

"How much blood can you give?"

"Apparently not enough. I mean, it's not that big a deal, right? They're smart; I'm sure they are or Lana wouldn't have hired them, but they just found out Kara and I existed ten days ago. It's a lot of catch up."

"That's true," Chloe said, carefully.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything. I agreed with you."

"It's not what you were thinking."

"You're psychic now," She scoffed.

He snorted. "Don't give my body any ideas. Eight weeks ago, I'd have said this one wasn't possible."

"Yeah, you're so amazing. Next thing you know, you'll fly."

"You're not that funny, Chlo. Seriously, you were thinking about something and I can tell by the fake Chloe Sullivan tested-and-approved smile on your face."

"It's not my place to say anything."

"Since when did we have boundaries?" He asked, echoing words she'd said long ago to him in the DP's basement.

She smiled at that. "I'm serious. I know you used to come to me for advice."

"I always come to you for advice when I'm not imitating a pin cushion." He said glumly.

"But I probably shouldn't be your go-to girl for everything anymore. It's not just about you and Lana. It's about you and Lana and the baby."

"And going to you for advice is a problem now? You make it sound kind of dirty, like I was visiting you at the Planet in a way I wouldn't if you were Pete."

"You know that's not what I meant. It's just that all the baby stuff is between you and Lana. You don't listen to Kara on stuff."

"Not paint colors." He conceded. "But we all listen to her. Something she read once in history class and half-slept through in biology is all we've got to go on."

"Was she a better biology student than you?"

"No, she liked Kryptonian literature. We're probably screwed."

"No, you're not."

"So see. We listen to Kara, so we can listen to you." He frowned. "Did Lana say something?"

Chloe looked down at her nails. "She came by the Planet to take me to lunch at one of the nice places downtown. While we were there, she might have mentioned how hurt she was that I was there when you told her. I think I totally overstepped my bounds."

" I wanted you there."

"She didn't, and she's the mom. I should have said no. Everything's all coming together. Granted, it's in typically Clark Kent way, but it is and I'm not supposed to ruin that."

"You're not ruining anything."

"I just...Lana has a point. Sometimes, I do hold on too tightly."

"When did she say that?"

"When you were on ice in the Fortress, I came to tell her that 'you' were acting funny and she said that. She wasn't wrong."

"Do I also have to remind you that you weren't wrong either. 'I' was acting funny and you probably saved my life."

"I know, but now that's it's actual you, I don't want to fuck things up."

"But your instincts are usually right. It's that reporter thing."

"You're one too." She said sadly.

"Not for a while." He replied, his tone as maudlin. He really had wanted to get a degree in journalism. Everything just got so complicated with his dad, the Zoners, Kara, and now the baby. God, there was always some crisis in his life. "What were you going to say?"

"I...this doesn't feel right."

"What doesn't?"

"ISIS. I know there's nothing wrong with it. I've checked the patient records and no one's ever died or anything. It's not like they're all Casey Brock, but it's a lab, and Kara's talked to me a few times this week while she's stopped in to visit Jimmy. It's a lot of testing, Clark."

"I know." He said. He'd been at ISIS eight days out of the last ten. He was pretty sure other people didn't visit there doctors that much, but, then again, other people weren't him. "But it makes Lana feel better."

"Kara said that they'd brought in both a chemist and a biochemist for this."

"Yeah."

"I thought Kara was off limits."

"She was."

"That changed fast." Chloe snarked.

"Lana decided that-"

"What did you decide?"

"What?"

"The way you said that makes it sound like Lana made the decision and you just went along with it like you always do. You can say no."

"I did." He admitted. "I told the doctors flat out Kara wasn't doing it and they watched me do it and turned to her for the answer. They always check with her. I'm sure it's because she's the one with the money."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "How often do the doctors address you and Kara?"

"Well, Russell's pretty nice. He's stammers a lot, but he's pretty considerate."

"And the others?"

"They talk to Lana."

"I see."

"It doesn't mean anything. I'm just the farmer in all of this."

"You're the traveler, you mean."

"I...I don't."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Do you really? They don't need that much fucking blood, Clark."

"You're the one who said ISIS was the only choice I had. I can't complain with the way Lana does things. She's trying and they just want to help."

"How many doctors do you think they'll bring in?"

"It's not that many."

"It's five. There were three. You only need one." She said, curtly.

"It's fine."

She sighed. "You're right. I'm probably just overreacting. Kara wasn't fazed by it."

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing fazes her. Chlo, it's going to be okay. Lana's looking out for the baby. She's doing a good job of getting specialists together."

Chloe moved to sit next to him on the sofa. "And everything else?"

"We're good. She's still working hard, but now it's the other stuff, like overseeing Schwartz and everyone else." He gave a mirthless laugh. "We see each other more now, which is good."

"Yeah, it is good." She said brightly. "I'm probably just paranoid. It's the dangerous lack of caffeine in my system. Do you want to treat me to a cup of from your cousin. We can tip in dimes if you want."

"Right. I need my hand." He said. "Sure, but only you get coffee."

She frowned. "They're seriously going to take you off caffeine. They do know you could drink sulfuric acid and survive, don't they?"

He shrugged. "The baby's half-human so they're doing all the precaution stuff. I have to call Ollie and let him know that if he needs anything, which he probably won't, Kara's his girl."

"No superheroing?"

"Not much."

"But farm chores?"

"Those I am going to do and then when I can't, I have no idea. I guess Kara can be a cowgirl. It's not like we could have hands here then."

"Nope."

"God," he said, throwing his head back again. "Why can't anything be simple."

"Well then it wouldn't be fun." Chloe said, hopping up. "Come on. I'll buy you something with chocolate. You're allowed to gain weight."

"Yeah, well that's a complication too. Stupid Kryptonian metabolism."

She frowned. "How many calories are you going to need to pack down?"

"A lot more than I am."

"Oh god. I've seen you and Kara eat. Someone should warn the cows."

"Very funny."

Chloe pulled out her wallet and started pulling out bills.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm double checking the state of my paltry finances. It appears that I can by you two brownies." She reached over and, just as he expected, patted his stomach. "Nothing's too good for my niece or nephew."


	6. Chapter 6

6

"She's going to kill me. She's absolutely going to kill me." Clark whined pacing back and forth in front of Chloe's futon (and fabulous luxury bed).

"Clark, I don't think your mom is going to kill you. She had to know what you and Lana were doing late nights at the farm."

Clark stopped pacing and glared back at her. "I mean, yeah, she might have guessed, but she knows me like you do. She knew I had all those issues about having sex."

Chloe couldn't restrain smirk as she glanced at his stomach. It was at least less intrusive than when Kara did it with her X-ray vision. "I'd say that you've solved those problems."

"Yeah, we did, but I never actually told mom we'd started with the you know. My mom and dad always assumed that I wasn't going to try that because, you know, I'm not normal, at least with my powers."

Chloe sighed. "But you and Lana have been living together for months, your mom had to assume that you were going to try it some time. Plus, she wasn't so mad that morning I kind of walked right into it. Clark, she knows you're an adult and she won't kill you for that one."

"The knocked up part?" He said, sighing and sitting on the arm of the sofa.

"Well, no one saw that coming and we all thought Lana was keeping up with her end of the, um, bargain. She's not going to kill you."

He sighed again and the papers on her kitchen table ruffled and fluttered to the floor. "What if you had to tell your dad that you and Jimmy or something like that?"

"Dad would probably cry and then I'd have to get married. It's a Catholic thing."

His eyes widened. Once upon a time, he'd had fantasies of marrying Lana, but that was before everything with Bizarro and Casey Brock. He loved her, but he didn't feel like he trusted her enough to marry her, no matter what was best for the baby. Jeez, what did that say about him that he'd sleep with Lana but he wouldn't marry her?

"I don't think I'm ready to get married, Chlo."

"That's my dad, not your mom. I'm just saying that it's going to be an awkward reaction but your mom is still going to love you. That's why she's your mom after all. Hell, this isn't even as weird as the heat vision or as disturbing as all that 'you're going to take over the world' business. You can do this."

He frowned. "Maybe I can just not tell her and wait for seven months and tell her I found the baby in a field."

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him. "You're not even applying logic to your denial anymore. Clark, you can't hide what's about to happen for very long and definitely not from your mother." She snorted. "If I'm self-healing, then your mother is a psychic. She probably knew before you did. Besides, Kara will blurt something out eventually."

"Not today. I broke my piggy bank sending her and Jimmy to a concert in Edge City. I cannot have her sharing things with my mom."

Chloe patted his hand. "See and now you're going to be fine. Take a deep breath, big boy, and go and tell her. It will all work out, I promise."

"I wish you were going to be there." He muttered.

Chloe sighed. "Not in the best friend job description."

"Sure it is. Wasn't it exactly what happened in that Uno movie?"

"It's Juno and you'll have the mother right there with you. It's a family bonding thing." Chloe said, smiling brightly.

"You are family."

"You know what I mean," she said, standing up and pushing on his shoulders. "Now go on and shoo. I'm not going to aide and abet you in hiding out from your mom. You're way too old for that."

"You're never too old to hide from your mom. I'm just glad dad and his shotgun aren't around anymore."

Chloe snorted. "Now there's an image for the night. Lana should be glad too. Get going and don't forget to call and tell me how it goes."

"I could always-"

"Just call, now go!"

He felt better the minute his mother put her arms around him. It never failed to soothe him when she cradled him like that. It shouldn't work like that. She was just one human woman, as fragile as any other, but he still felt safe with her arms around him, like everything was going to be okay. Honestly, the last time he'd felt like that was when Chloe had hugged him after he'd come home from the Fortress.

"Mom."

"Baby..." and he couldn't help but flinch at the word, thinking about what he was going to have to reveal. "What's going on? You've been so evasive on the phone the last few weeks and I swear I haven't heard from Kara in forever."

That was deliberate. He didn't trust his cousin not to tell his mom everything and then start getting opinions on nursery colors.

"Mrs. Kent, it's good to see you." Lana said, leaning in to hug his mother as well and drawing some of the attention off of him.

"Lana," His mom replied, smiling widely. "You look as lovely as ever."

"Thank you. Would you like to sit down before dinner? Clark and I have something we really need to tell you."

His mom frowned and squinted at him as if she were the one with X-ray vision. His mom was good and could usually pinpoint the reason behind any mope, but even she was not going to see this on coming. "Is everyone alright?"

Clark nodded. "Yeah mom. It's nothing apocalyptic, at least not literally. I kind of feel like my life's over, but there's no Zod or Fine to worry about at least."

His mom reached out and squeezed his hand. "Oh sweetie."

Clark sighed and pulled his mother with him to the couch. "It's not too bad," He hedged. "You're probably just going to kill me."

"I doubt that."

Lana followed them dutifully to the sofa and sat next to Clark on the sofa, placing her hand gently inside his. "Mrs. Kent, something's happened."

"I gathered that."

"I...mom," Clark started, his cheeks flaring red. "Lana and I have been sharing my bed."

"I noticed that at Christmas," his mom replied, her tone even but slightly strained.

"Clark means metaphorically." Lana added. "We've been sleeping together since February."

His mom looked between both of them and he watched her shoulders sag. "I'd hoped you hadn't tried that. I know you're an adult now, Clark, but it sets such a poor example for Kara and she still thinks like she's sixteen. I really didn't want to encourage her to start sleeping with Jimmy."

Clark blanched. "You're not mad at me for sleeping with Lana?"

"I know you did it the summer you were human right under our noses. I at least appreciate you being honest with me, even if it is after the fact. It's not ideal, but it was your choice to make and that's not much I can do to change it from D.C., is there?"

"No, I guess not." He replied lamely.

"I encouraged you the first time anyway. I just hope you've tried to be discrete around your cousin and that you've been careful."

Clark's blush reached neon levels. Based on Kara's scowls across the breakfast table, he and Lana had been excessively loud, even for a someone without super-ears. "We've tried to save it for times when she works late shift at The Talon." That much was at least true.

"And you've been careful?" She prodded and Clark remembered he was dealing with someone with lawyer training and a keen legal mind. She could read what he hadn't said easily.

"Clark can't get sick or give me anything." Lana pointed out.

"Not diseases," his mother said mildly. "Have you been using any protection at all?"

"Well," Clark said, picking at the worn lint on his flannel shirt. "We tried. Condoms tend to...well they break a little." And he had no idea why he did that but didn't accidentally break Lana too. "Lana's on the pill but she must have forgotten a few doses."

To her credit, his mother's composure never wavered. "Lana's pregnant?"

"No, Mrs. Kent." She replied stiffly, squeezing his hand a little tighter. "Clark is."

His room didn't feel much like his room anymore. There was delicate lavender vase on his bedside table, always filled with some potent smelling flowers like fresia or lilac. His dresser top was now littered with fancy silver framed brushes and combs and a variety of skin lotions with scents that tickled his sensitive nose. While his clothes were still strewn in piles (neat ones) on the floor, there was a plain hamper filled with ridiculously small clothes, through which he could occasionally spy a pair of barely there underwear or a lacy bra.

All his posters had been taken down and replaced with accents of fabric.

It was a grown up room.

Their room and it was as different from where he'd spent his time in high school as Kara's was from his parents'.

Everything changed.

Clark sighed and ran a hand over his stomach. Everything definitely changed.

He knew his mother was on the other side of the door just from hearing the cadence of her footfalls on the stairs. "Mom, you can come in."

The door slid open and she grinned at him. "No peeking."

"I wasn't. I'd know you from a heartbeat or a rhythm of breath."

"I feel the same way, sweetie, although a little less literally." She said, walking over to the bed. "May I sit down."

"Sure, it's kind of a tight fit. Me and Lana really need a new one." He looked down at his stomach and thought about how big it was going to be by the end of everything. "We're definitely going to need a new bed."

His mother gave a pained smile as she slipped onto the bed behind him. Clark scooted over a little and let his head come to rest against her stomach. When he'd been little, his mom had fallen into a habit of playing with his hair. She hadn't done it since he'd been poisoned with Red K, and he realized he'd missed the contact.

God, he'd missed his mom.

"You were quiet at dinner, sweetie."

That was an understatement. Dinner had been a disaster. His mom had asked about prenatal care and Lana had mentioned ISIS without a second thought. She was still so confident in everything and his mom, much like he and Chloe, was uncomfortable with him having a whole team of scientists responsible for him. She and Lana hadn't shouted-they were both too high society to revert to that-but the discussion had been heated and fast paced, and he could tell she was mad at Lana and disappointed with him for making such a reckless choice.

He hadn't had the heart to argue because he couldn't argue for Lana's position. He just couldn't support what he didn't believe in and the debate over ISIS had already caused enough problems in their relationship lately.

He had to keep his mouth shut and try and keep Lana happy for the baby's sake.

Besides, he knew nothing about babies or any of it. He needed someone to make sure everything was progressing the way it should be.

"I know I was quiet, mom. I didn't know what to say."

"About what?" She asked, her fingers trailing over his temple.

"About any of it. I know you're mad."

"I'm disappointed, Clark. There's a difference. I expected you to be more responsible than this."

"We tried, mom. We really did, but certain things don't work for me the way they do for humans and I thought Lana was being careful. I just didn't know."

"If you'd waited until you'd been married-"

He shook his head but refrained from sitting up. "I didn't want to wait. It was killing our relationship. We'd been intimate before, when I'd been human and she'd had powers. Going back to celibacy really wasn't an option."

"For whom?"

"What?"

"For whom wasn't it an option? I know you. I may not have agreed with it, but you were committed enough to Alicia to marry her before you let the relationship more complicated. You know how your father felt about sex before marriage. You weren't the one pressing for it, were you?"

"Lana didn't force me," He huffed. Technically, that was true. No one could force him to do anything, but she'd pulled the passive-aggressive act. After Bizarro, it had been clear that if he hadn't started being more physical with her, then she'd leave.

"But she held it over your head."

"She's not like that. She was just frustrated with me, mom. Frankly, so was I. What kind of man can't even be with his girlfriend. I just wanted what Lex had and Jimmy had and Ollie." He laughed bitterly and let his fingers trail over his hips. "I guess we all know why I shouldn't have what they all do and it has nothing to do with superstrength."

His mother sighed but kept stroking his hair. "There are always consequences, Clark."

"But I didn't expect this one."

"Not for you."

"Not for either of us."

"Neither did I. You've done a lot of extraordinary things and gotten into a lot of trouble, but I never saw this coming, sweetheart."

He swallowed at that. "Are you finally too freaked out?"

"No, but this one is going to be complicated. We're going to have to figure out a way to run the farm without you. I think Kara can help with that, since farmhands around here while you're in the later stages is impossible. We'll have to find some way to explain where the baby came from. Lana will have to where some kind of false stomach for at least four or five months. There's going to need to be money set aside, I have some saved from my own savings before I met your father and now from my salary. We'll need to set aside a real nursery...it's going to take a lot of planning."

He blinked. He hadn't even thought about trying to explain where the baby came from yet. It was then he remembered the fierce analytical mind his mother had. "I...yeah."

"I can come home. If I step down, there's always someone to take my place."

Clark sat up a little at that and gaped at her. "No way. I can't ask you to do that. This is something you're great at and I shouldn't have screwed it up. I mean, Lana has some resources and there's Kara and Chloe here too. I couldn't ask for that."

"But-"

"No, I don't need you around the farm for the next few months. No one's even going to notice."

"But the last trimester, baby. I need to be here for that."

"What will you say? My son's pregnant? That will get you unelected so fast."

She chuckled. "We'll get one of Lana's team to fake records about the pregnancy being difficult and I'll come home to take care of my family while Lana might be 'losing' the baby."

Clark sighed. He noticed the bitterness in his mom's voice when she said the word "team." "Mom, ISIS isn't so bad."

"I can't believe you'd go to a place like that without telling me first. After everything your father and I have done to keep you out of a lab, you're going at least once every other day, Clark. It's a terrible idea."

He shrugged. "I know but I don't have a choice. I...she wants this and I'm scared if I don't get help that the baby won't make it."

His mom wrapped both her arms around him and squeezed. "I understand that, but it's so dangerous, Clark. Just one of them-"

"I know."

"Couldn't we have gone to Lionel instead?"

He shook his head. "Jor-El can't know. He already abused me three or four times and left Kara for dead. I can't let him near my child, mom. I won't." And he felt his hands tighten around his stomach.

"I know the feeling. I wouldn't want him near you either."

"This whole situation pretty much sucks. I talked to Kara when we first realized what was going on. I can't...we're not made like that. It's a condition we can't get out of."

His mom glared back at him. "I'd never suggest that, not after everything I had to go through to get you."

"I know." He replied, looking away from her. "But I thought about it for a few days. I didn't want it to be true."

His mom reached down and cupped his chin in her hands. "And now?"

"I'm scared but I want this so much. I can hear the baby, mom. I can see it. It's so real and it's like I've almost forgotten what it's like not to have an audience for my life." He laughed ruefully. "Chloe says I'm smitten and she's right."

His mother relaxed a little. "I'm glad to hear that. I wanted you so badly too." She sighed and resumed stroking his head. "Clark, does Lana feel the same way?"

"It's sudden." He replied. "She's doing the best she can and she's giving us such good care."

"That's not what I asked."

"I...it's an adjustment period." He hedged, pointedly not telling her about Lana's ever increasing hours at ISIS and her cool, detached demeanor during the project check-ups. "She's warming up to everything. She was just pregnant or she thought she was. I think it's a lot for her to be preparing for two children in the space of two years."

"I see."

He burrowed down a little into his mom's side. "We're going to need to add planning a wedding to everything. We'll have to do it soon before I show because I can't explain the extra large tux to friends and her family." He snorted. "I think the maternity tux is a niche market."

"Clark, don't get married."

This time he sat up so fast that he slipped into superspeed. "What?"

His mom set her steady gaze back at him. "Do you trust Lana enough to go through life with her."

"I...that's a difficult question."

She shook her head. "No, it's not. I had doubts about your father, but I always trusted him. He was a good man and I recognized that from the first day I met him."

"Lana's good."

"Clark, Lionel told me about the torturing and the bear trap. I've heard you complain about what she did with your powers."

"Yeah but Eric Summers-"

"Your father had your powers and all he did was bring you home. Lex had them and at first thought he could use them to stop Fine. It wasn't the powers that made Lana hurt you and Lex and even Lois and you know that."

He looked down at his hands. "She was angry. I'm dangerous when I'm angry. I've almost hurt more people than I'd like to admit. I can't hold that against her."

"And the lab tech?"

His eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

"Lionel, of course, but I also called Chloe on the porch when you came up here. You don't trust Lana completely. It wouldn't have taken you so long to go to ISIS if you did. You wouldn't have almost let her walk out on you after everything that happened with the Phantom."

"I know, but we talked. I can't always judge people so harshly and hold them to my standards. It's not fair."

She reached out and stroked his cheek. "And your instincts are telling you not to marry her. Maybe you can later, but the baby is already such a huge change. I don't think adding the pressure of a marriage on top of that is a good idea."

He frowned. "But isn't it wrong? Won't it be worse if the baby is, you know..." He trailed off, unable to bear the thought of calling his child a bastard.

"No, Clark. It's much worse to bring the baby into a marriage where the parents are fighting or where they can't trust each other. It will be so much more painful to dissolve everything later. If you don't trust her fully yet-and I'm not saying that you never will, just that you don't now-then don't marry her. It's not right, baby."

"Dad wouldn't say that."

"This isn't a shotgun situation. You need to take care of you and the baby and work on your relationship with her first. It was very foolish to hope that sleeping with her would fix all your problems."

"I didn't. Besides, our big problem was that we weren't having sex."

His mother sighed. "I don't think that was it at all. I think you both love each other very much. Lana wouldn't have come back from Shanghai if she didn't. But I feel that you need to take things slower, get to know each other, because the last few months, you haven't truly agreed on anything."

Actually in the last two months, they'd agreed on lots and lots of sex but the preceding six or seven months they'd argued about everything from ISIS to Lex to the Phantom.

"What if we can't come together like you and dad did? I...what if we can't be ready for the baby in time?"

"You will be. I have faith in you."

"Do you have faith in Lana?"

She hesitated. "I have faith that you two can work it out, but she's going to have to trust your judgment and she's also going to have to demonstrate that she and ISIS have changed since January."

"What do I have to do?"

She smiled sadly and patted his stomach and it really was fucking community property now. "You have to take care of my grandbaby."

He smiled back at her and gave her a hug. He'd already seen the tears welling in her eyes. There was something unfair or maybe just cruel that his mom, who'd wanted a child of her own more than anything and was possibly the greatest mom on any planet, could never carry a baby to term and her son could.

"I love you, mom."

"Me too, sweetheart, me too. Now, on to more important business."

"There's more important?" He asked. pulling away from her.

She nodded. "I want to see sonograms now."


	7. Chapter 7

7

11 Weeks  
>"You know, I feel like I haven't seen you in a month." Chloe said as she slunk down onto the Talon's futon beside him. She had a diet coke in one hand and, in the second glass, one that used to be one of those extra large slurpee cups and is scarily close to being the size of her head, was his drink.<p>

Clark took it and grimaced at it. "I hate this stuff."

"Oh it is not so bad, you baby." She snarked, grinning at the use of the b-word. "Lois used to drink back when she was really working toward her black belt. She says it works great for building up muscle."

"Like I'll have any of that in a few months."

"No, but this stuff is supposed to be all curds and whey or maybe just the whey part. At either rate, it should be helpful with the weight gain stuff."

He narrowed his eyes at the offending mixture. The protein shake mix has a consistency that is too close to unhardened concrete for comfort and it tastes too much like chalk, despite the proclaimed chocolate flavor. He shuddered as he took a swig. "Stupid Kryptonian metabolism."

Chloe sighed. "I can't get drunk."

"I have to eat all this crazy stuff the doctors give me. Well, most of it tastes pretty much like this, but you'd think I'd be able to just have free reign to eat a lot of pie or something."

"Don't you?"

"Well yeah," He admitted, forcing himself to sip again. "But just eating more of it really didn't help. I think the farm chores, even if you take out the superstrength advantage, are just good at burning calories."

"And hence the expression 'eat like a farmhand.'" She snorted. "I seriously have no idea how you manage to keep you and Kara in food over there. I assume Lana just doesn't eat."

"She eats."

Chloe laughed. "Not very much. It's never all that much fun going out to eat with her, you know. Lois and I are all about the meat and potatoes-what between my heritage and her army base life."

He considered that. "Do they really make them peel the things for punishment."

Chloe shrugged. "Not anymore but they have more creative punishments now and I'm pretty sure they involve marching. Anyway, going out with her always made me and Lo a little self conscious. I mean, you go Italian, you get a pizza. There's something so wrong about just having a little salad."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, mom's salary has helped a lot. Kara and I aren't cheap and she did have that accident in the fall with her heat vision and the tractor."

"Stupid old thing." Chloe conceded. "So," she started, setting her hand on his stomach. "How's my little nephew or niece?"

"This public property thing is still annoying. Kara won't stop staring at me. She even does it when I'm just sitting at the sofa or something. She focuses on my back and I'll turn around and just know she's seeing through everything."

"I imagine this has a time-lapse photography appeal to her."

Clark laughed and patted her hand for a second. "And you're the one who can't stop angling for the first kick. When that stuff starts, I promise I'll let you know."

"But I want to be first. A good reporter is ready and waiting for the story to break."

Despite himself, Clark stiffened a little at her words. Not that she'd ever even think of doing that to him, although, he hadn't put it past her not to be keeping some kind of journal somewhere. He could see some log being kept of this insane little process, replete with side commentary laced with sarcasm. God, she'd probably pull it out on the kid's fourteenth birthday party or something, not that he was anxious to explain the birds, the bees, and the What the Hell when the time came. If he could get away with it, he was hoping just to say Lana'd been the pregnant one in this mess.

Of course, Chloe's love for the truth, Kara's big mouth, and his mom's growing collection of photos and ultrasounds were working against him.

"Fine, but touching extra hard is not going to make it happen any faster."

"Oh ye of little faith. This kid is going to just love responding to Aunt Chloe."

Clark snickered. "Five bucks says the sound of Lois's voice makes the rugrat kick more than anything."

"Not fair. She threw away the evidence for you."

"And gave me that hangover cure anyway. I got an email from her the next day and I didn't know you could do that with Tabasco, coffee grounds, and honey. I…yuck."

She giggled again and took a sip of her coke. "So I take it that the craving stuff hasn't hit."

"Nope. Honestly, I don't want to eat much of anything in the morning." He frowned. "Okay, I eat first breakfast but by second, it's all over."

"Only you have second breakfast."

"And if you're up at five and it rolls around to ten, you're hungry again. That's not even a Kryptonian thing. But the morning sickness." He shrugged. "I guess I'm kind of lucky. When mom was…" He hesitated then, trying very hard not to remember why he didn't have a younger sibling of his own. "Anyway, she used to have morning sickness at 3 AM."

"Yikes."

"That's how I feel about it. At least mine waits until the cows are fed and chores are done."

"Yay for convenience." She agreed, setting her glass on the coffee table. "I've missed you."

He blushed and looked down at his own cup. "I know. I meant to stop by the Planet last week but there's been a lot of check-ups and mom was at the farm for a few days-she begged off the floor for some constituent bonding stuff-and we'd been going over plans. I just got busy."

Chloe quirked her head at him and replied with a practiced neutral tone. "How is ISIS. After we talked, I was surprised that you're still going every day."

"It's not every day." He object meekly.

"Okay, so you get Saturdays off or so Kara mentioned when she stopped by to see Jimmy. I thought you were going to talk to Lana about all of that."

"I did." He said. "But then she mentioned how it does have to be pretty intense in the beginning. I wasn't wrong. They're playing catch up and if a lot of blood work and samples," He said, hoping Chloe wouldn't ask about what kind. There were certain things that involved little plastic cups that he wouldn't have even discussed with Pete.

"And Kara's still going?"

"They had to go through the, um, month with her. Well, actually, it's more like six weeks and I never needed to know that about my cousin."

"Lucky bitch."

"Chlo!"

She smirked. "I'm serious, Clark. Once every six weeks over the four? Great timing on that. I think the girls on your planet had it made. Nice long rests between that annoying time and the men carried the babies."

"Just the one time, for like ten years." He said.

"Still, that's the culture I'm signing up for."

"Right." He said. "When the AI's master plan to whatever with me comes through, I'll be sure to implement reverse parenting."

"Clark, about the Fortress-"

"Nope. We're not going."

"I know that. It's crazy, but at some point you might have to or at least send Kara in your place."

"Yeah, she was only sent to Detroit last time. Maybe this year, she can end up in Baltimore and complete her tour of the most dangerous U.S. cities. I think 'grandpa' is out for the count on this one."

"Believe me. I'm not fond of 'let her freeze to death' El, either, but Kara might not be expert enough. Seriously, what do you remember from eighth grade human development?"

He shrugged and forced himself to chug down the rest of his concoction. "Everything, naturally. Kara remembers all the basics."

"Doesn't make her an obstetrician."

"And that's why I have two."

Chloe's eyes narrowed further and he scooted back a little on the sofa. There was no good reason why one human girl could intimidate him like that, but Chloe (and come to think of it, Lois) had that effect on him. Maybe it was a Sullivan-Lane thing. "You had one two weeks ago."

And he'd gone over this argument with his mother. "I know, but Lana might have recruited one who had training in high risk cases."

"That's six."

"I know, but, like I said, the AI's out so six humans are going to have to do."

"It'll be seven by the end of the next month."

"Will not."

"Uh-huh." She said, biting her lower lip. "Are they at least treating you better?"

He sighed. "They're not so bad." Off her focused glance, he amended. "Alright so Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Meyers only talk to Lana and then stare at me a lot, and not in the appreciative and slightly obsessive way Kara does, but Dr. Russel is really nice. You'd like him. He reminds me of your dad."

"He has a million and one back knock-knock jokes?"

"Definitely." Clark replied. "Most of the others do the lab work and he's the one who actually consults with me. He's a good guy and he treats me…" Like a human being was what he wanted to say, but he didn't think that would make Chloe any less anxious. "…well, really well."

"That's good then."

"See, so maybe Lana was right about the one thing. It's long and it takes a lot of meetings and consultations and between that and farm work, I barely have a life, but it's not 33.1 either, Chlo."

"'Barely have a life,' huh?"

"Well just the other things, like hanging out at the DP or sometimes I like to go by Fordman's or the feed store. A few of the guys from the team ended up busting out in college, injuries, you know? So there's people to talk to and all my dad's old friends are always doing the Old Timer thing by the oat barrel's at Johnson's Feed." He fumbled a little and sighed. His life had never put him up front, center and social. Chloe and Pete and then, really, just Chloe had been his only friends in high school. He hadn't even been at college long enough to make friends there. Still, there was something a little sad about just hanging out in the basement of a building he didn't work in and at the feed store.

It wasn't a rip roaring social life, even like Kara's, who'd bonded really tightly with her coworkers at the Talon.

However, as humble as it was, he was starting to miss it.  
>"Clark, you can always skip a day or pair them down a little. If you want time off to go see the guys or visit me and Lois, I think that might be good for you. Relaxing has to help this whole thing, doesn't it?"<p>

"I am relaxed."

"Right."

"I am. The ISIS stuff isn't that stressful." Except for the part where he tried to avoid the intense stares of the doctors. He tried really, really hard to remind himself that he was the patient in this scenario and not the specimen. Most days, he didn't quite succeed on that score.

"I see." Chloe replied, sighing. "Just, if you are in town, you can feel free to stop by. You know my hours never really end anyway."

He shook his head. "Talking about people who need to relax, you too can take vacations, Chloe."

"Not with the Prince of Evil out and about." She snarked. "So, enough for my weekly public service announcement about you, your rights and ISIS. Fun stuff!"

"There's fun stuff?"

She patted his stomach. "Oh this is loads of fun."

He sighed. "I can't tell if you or Kara is more excited. You know she's upped from paint swatch comparisons to actually getting out the measuring tape."

"Oh, I've been arranging things on the sly, don't you worry. I was just seque-ing so we can squee about the big event tomorrow."  
>Her smile, so wide and genuine, was infectious and he couldn't help but break out into a wide grin of his own. Laying his hand over hers-and, like with his mom or Lana, it always threw him how easily their hands disappeared in his large one; he'd probably be able to hold the little one one-handed at first, especially if he didn't start gaining more steadily-he sighed again. "The sex, you mean?"<p>

"Exactly."

"Chlo, look, about the appointment. I know you want to be there, but-"

"First, I can't have too much food poisoning or Bernstein gets suspicious. Second, it's probably better I'm not left alone in a room with your wonderful bedside manner team. Besides, you'll just tell me in a few hours after the fact tomorrow."

"I'll be speeding for sure." He replied. "I just…Lana thinks-"

She nodded and her smile switched then from genuine to forced. He could tell by how many white teeth were shining back at him. "I know. I can understand how she might…well, I know that it's a family thing."

"You are family."

"Not in the next of kin sense. It's fine, Clark, really. I don't want there to be any weird moments like when you told me about the whole thing first."

"I…yeah." He sighed. Part of this whole weird odyssey was about keeping Lana happy. He was pretty sure she was happy. She was spending so much time and effort on the appointments, and she seemed very interested in everything the doctors told her. Plus, with him at ISIS all the time, he saw her more than he had in the two months they'd been sleeping together. Still, at home, things were a little off. Maybe it was his fault. They hadn't actually done anything physical since she'd found out about the pregnancy. Clark found that kind of stupid, personally. As his dad would have said, that was like closing the barn door after the horse was already out.  
>Besides, he'd read at least a dozen books on pregnancy and it was perfectly fine for humans to do it.<p>

Maybe she just felt weird about it or maybe she was just scared it wasn't good for the baby.

Of course, if it were the latter, wouldn't she still at least be interested in making out?

Clark shook his head. He was just over thinking things. The important thing was that Lana was feeling much better about being told last (except for his mom). That was what mattered, that he kept the family together. Still, he didn't like not having Chloe around. She'd been in on all the weird and, frankly, scary stuff since he'd lost his memory and put on an exhibition for her of all his abilities without even knowing it. He just knew ISIS wouldn't feel so oppressive if she were there. Similarly, he wouldn't feel as lonely if he actually could go anywhere but the farm and ISIS.

"Clark?"

"Huh?"

"You did that reflective gaze thing you do so well." Chloe replied. "I can wait a few extra hours. Hell, if I wanted to know that mystery so much, then I'd just ask Kara. She already knows, I'm sure."

"She promised she wouldn't look for that."

"Uh-huh, like she ever keeps her promises." Chloe said, sighing. "I just…try and come by the DP more. Mabel misses you and even Lois says my desk looks worse without you decorating it."

"Oh hardy har har."

"So, how excited are you?"  
>He blushed. "I'm not going to actually squee with you on this one, Chlo."<p>

"Fine, but it's going to be so neat. It's like the baby's a person now."

"The baby is a person." He said hotly.

"Oh please, that's not an E.T. statement. What I meant was it's not as real when it's just 'the boy or girl' or 'he/she.' You're going to know and then, soon, you'll be ready to do the name thing."

"Carts and horses, Chlo." He said. "I don't try and think too far ahead for this one."

"Powers of denial working over time then?"

"No. It's just, as far as we can prove and no matter what the Kawatchee say, Kryptonians and humans haven't really had children together before. Everything could be going fine and then the baby could turn out to be allergic to I don't know what or get sick or…" He trailed off and hoped that Chloe would ignore the trembling in his voice that had quieted him.

And, like she always did, Chloe pretended not to notice it or the way he discreetly rubbed at his eyes. He could feel her fingers tap lightly against his stomach. "Okay, well Kara and I are still planning because I know it's going to be just fine."

"You're not one for unbridled optimism, Chlo."

"I'm a cynic, but I know when things are going to work and this is. Besides, yellow sun. The baby's probably healthier than any full human ever was."

"I hope so." He added, squeezing her hand.  
>"So, don't leave a girl in suspense. What are you hoping for?"<p>

Clark paused for a moment, biting down the automatic response of human . That, he was fairly certain, was a pipe dream. The doctors, especially Dr. Meyers, had been very exacting in going over the karyotypes and other blood work with Lana. What the baby had was closer t DNA by a lot than what he and Kara shared, but it still wasn't anywhere close to normal. Still, Clark kept hoping that the baby would grow up to be as normal as possible. Sometimes…okay, all the time…it was just so hard being one of two in the world. Besides, if the baby were more human, then he/she wouldn't have all the problems with the relationship stuff.

Of course, he thought ruefully, he didn't exactly have those problems anymore either.

"A girl could be really nice." He said. "My mom was going to have a girl and I'd always wanted to be a big brother. Besides, I have the experience of guarding a teenage girl's virtue thanks to Kara."

"Good luck with that."

"Kara's as pure as Mother Teresa."

Chloe snorted. "With the way she and Jimmy keep going at it in the storage closet? Dare to dream, Boy Scout."

"I don't think she-"

Chloe sighed. "Probably not. Despite her bravado, I don't think she's ready to try things that advanced with a human yet either. Didn't you almost break Lana's arm?"

He winced. "The third time and there might have been some headboard scorching but it was only the twice, um, three times."  
>"And Kara's worse with heat vision. Don't worry. I'm sure her honor's intact. Of course, you don't have to try to impress on her the need for using protection."<p>

"Very funny. We tried." He said, sighing. "Stupid tearable Earth things."

"Right, too bad your ship didn't come with Kryptonian Trojans."

Or Lana could have actually kept up with her birth control instead of spending too much time staring at Lex or her labs or whatever and forgetting to do the little things that mattered. "Don't I wish. But a little girl could be nice. Maybe she wouldn't be as strong. I dunno, maybe we could do all those cute things like ballet class."

She snorted. "You'd go?"

"I'd be all there in the audience with the camcorder pointing out to everyone which midget in a pink was mine."

"She could be a tomboy."

"With Aunt Kara and Lois, how could she not?" He replied. "I just, maybe she'd fit in a little better?"

"Kara's almost as strong as you are." Chloe pointed out.

"I know, but still. There are cute things to do with little girls. It could be nice."

Chloe smirked back at him. "But you are so playing Henry VIII here. You want a boy."

"Actually, I want a healthy baby who gets as few of my half of the genes as possible." He said tiredly. "But a son would be really great. I could do all the things I haven't gotten to do since Dad died. I mean, there'd be football-not on a team, but dad did teach me to throw when I was little-and I'd take him fishing."

"You hate fishing."

"But it's a father-son thing. We can be bored together. Either way, it's nice because there's more of us. It's not just me and Kara and our family doesn't have to die out with us." Which was more than Clark had ever had the right to hope for. Even if his child was half-human, it still meant that he wasn't the last one. Somehow, his people were going to survive.

He wasn't sure why he felt so good about that since, aside from Raya and Lara, he didn't care for the other Kryptonians he'd met all that much. Still, in some ways, having the baby meant that some of the burdens he'd felt were gone. On the other hand, he was six months shy of being saddled with a whole bunch of new ones.

"No more last son." Chloe replied, succinctly.

"Exactly, but I don't care either way. I meant it, you know. I just want the baby to get through all of this safely."

"My little niece or nephew will." Chloe said firmly, hopping up toward the sink. "And I'm going to see to it right now by giving you even more of that drink you love."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. I'm the best aunt ever."

*In the next chapter, the sex will actually be revealed.


	8. Chapter 8

8

"You don't look so well," Kara said, taking a bite of the banana in her hand.

Clark blinked back his heat vision, resisting the temptation to burn it into ash. His cousin had developed an affinity for that particular food and, apparently, so had is nostrils. Okay, so it was more like his nose could not pick up the overwhelming smell of the banana and, just like the day he'd first gotten sick in front of Kara, it was making him nauseous. "God, I think I'm going to throw up again."

She checked her watch. "Well, it is ten AM. That makes you like totally on schedule."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Could you just finish that?"

Kara smirked and, in a movement so fast a human could never have followed it, the banana was gone. "Better?"

"Could you at least promise me not to buy any more of those things for the next few weeks."

"I like bananas."

"I don't right now."

"Fine," She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "But don't think you're all in for special treatment from now on. I'm not getting rid of all the food I like because it makes you sick."

"There's compassion."

"It'll pass."

He sighed. "That's not even so bad. It's the stupid barn smell. I swear I can smell the horse stalls from my bedroom and no one needs that much ammonia in the morning, you know?"

"I still never understood why humans live with what they eat." She quipped. "I don't like how cows and horses smell either."

He shrugged. "Could be worse. We could be a pig farm, and then I really wouldn't be able to stand that."

She nodded. "But otherwise you're doing okay?"

"Yes mom."

"Not even funny, Kal." She said, pushing a cup toward him.

Clark groaned. "You and Chloe are in a conspiracy against me."

"No, we're in a conspiracy to keep the baby healthy. This makes sure you get all the nutrient things, so you drink it."

"God," He said, taking a swig. "You'd think they could make it taste decent what with all those advances in modern science."

"Uh-huh. Just drink it all."

"I'll probably just Ralph it up anyway."

Kara paused and quirked her head at him. "Where does that expression even come from. I swear English makes like no sense."

"I have no idea," He replied, wincing at the sharp taste of his shake.

"So, I've been thinking," She started.

"You mean plotting."

"Mostly thinking. I've been looking at a lot of the paint colors from Frank's, you know, it's next to Fordman's."

"Kara, considering how much stuff on the farm breaks down, I practically live there."

"Yeah, but this is the good stuff. I'm trying to figure out the color scheme. I'm thinking House colors."

"Red, yellow, and blue?" Clark asked thoughtfully. "You know, that's not so bad. If you've ever seen little kids' toys, they are always in primary colors. It's all bright and cheery. I don't know how I feel about one of the rooms looking like Romper Room."

"The baby will be a good do-bee."

His eyes widened. "Seriously, did they download you with random pop culture facts or should I have kept Lana from paying for satellite."

She shrugged. "TV Land is my friend. Anyway, Kal, I think it would be nice and the yellow would be very bright and sunny."

"I know. I'll run it by Lana. She's never been much of a yellow fan. If the baby's a girl, I'm sure she's going to insist on all pink all the time."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Kara said and then slammed her hand over her mouth.

"Kara!"

She gulped and pulled her hand back out from her face. "Kal, I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking. I mean, how can I not look? I've been trying to figure it out since the week started and I wasn't going to tell you, since I knew you had that whole 'do it the human way' thing going on."

"I just...it was supposed to be a surprise."

Kara snickered. "Like you haven't been looking."

He blushed. "Okay, so you caught me, but I really do suck at biology. I couldn't tell anything about I was looking at. Hell, are you even sure?"

"Totally, I found all these pictures of what it should look like on the internet. He's a boy."

Clark broke out into a wide grin. He hadn't been lying to Chloe when he'd told her that he'd have loved to do things with a little girl, but now he knew the baby was his son. It was amazing and now he really would get to do all those things he hadn't since his dad had died. "Really?"

"Yup. In an hour, the scientists at ISIS are going to tell you what me and Aunt Martha already know."

"Kara!"

"Come on, your mom begged me to tell her once she figured out I knew. I couldn't say no to Aunt Martha, now could I?"

"I don't think you could." He agreed. His mother had a way of being very persuasive (and intimidating). "You know that Lana's going to be pissed. We were supposed to do this more conventionally."

"I see through things, like I wasn't going to sneak a peek." She replied tartly.

"I know," He hedged. "It's just try and act surprised. I think Lana feels kind of left behind with some things, what with the not actually carrying the baby or being able to hear him and see him like we can."

"Or she just doesn't like our powers all that much."

Clark blushed again. "I wouldn't say that."

She rolled her eyes. "Outside of supersex, Kal. Jeez, you are so dense sometimes." Then, as was typical with his cousin, she had one of those quick and inexplicable shifts in mood. The next thing he knew, she had her arms wrapped around his stomach. "Hey, little guy."

"Um, hi too." Clark said hesitantly, still not quite used to being overshadowed by his son.

Kara pulled away. "I'm just really excited. Now I don't have to keep the whole thing a secret."

"Doesn't sound like you pulled that off with mom at all."

"Minor point. The important part is that you're in on the big stuff and I'm going to have another little cousin very soon."

Clark thought about that for a moment as he took another sip of his drink. "You really liked me, didn't you?"

"Well it's a present tense thing, Kal."

"No, I mean, you really enjoyed babysitting for me and that is still one of the weirdest parts of my life."

Kara arched an eyebrow and glanced at his stomach. "Really? That's the weirdest thing for you?"

He rubbed the area in question self-consciously. "Okay, most of my life is just one big pile of weird. But the you having known me as an infant is still up there in the top five WTF moments."

"Right there with you." She said.

"Uh, Kara," he said, pausing a little and struggling to continue.

"Yeah?"

"Am I your only cousin?"

"Now or before?"

"I mean before."

She nodded. "My mom didn't have any siblings and it was just Jor-El and Zor-El."

"I still don't understand why you got to hang out with me so much if our fathers didn't get along at all."

"Lara loved me. Besides, Zor-El always encouraged me to hang out with you."

"Because I was hers." He finished, looking down at the table.

She sighed. "Maybe. There's a lot of things I didn't really let myself notice back there. I thought our families were really happy and even after the Manhunter showed up, I didn't know why our fathers hated each other so much. I always thought it was something political, frankly."

"Were you a good me-sitter?"

"I am an excellent babysitter. I promise. I don't promise to be any good with some of the primitive stuff here. We were so past diapers, by the way. However, I spent a lot of time with you." She grinned. "I bet he's going to be very ticklish."

"I bet you're ticklish." He muttered.

"Oh, you'll never know the answer to that one." She replied.

"Kal?" She asked, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"What?"

"You do realize that you've been tapping on the counter non-stop and that you're right leg's twitching a bit. You so want out."

"Yeah, phrase that like I'm a dog more."

She rolled her eyes. "Admit it. You can't wait to tell Chloe."

"I can wait. I don't have to tell her everything."

"You so do. Jimmy says that you sometimes recount the cow things for her at work for no good reason."

"Well sometimes there's one that gets stuck in the fence or something and Chloe and I share everything and she's never mentioned being bored by farm stories."

"Just proving my point, little cousin." Kara replied, checking her watch. "You know, Aunt Martha and we aren't supposed to be leaving for another ten minutes. With your speed, you have plenty of time to get to the DP."

"But Lana-"

"Isn't here and you can fake surprise, can't you? Besides, Chloe owes me thirty bucks."

"Excuse me?"

"We placed a friendly bet. I said that you were going to have a boy and Chloe bet me it was going to be a girl. So, go tell her and get my thirty dollars."

"I cannot believe you've exploited my fetus."

"But I need the money. There was this sale at the Granville Mall and I so blew through my paycheck." She replied, nudging him to his feet. "Go on, Kal, and when you come back there should be pictures of that bearded guy with you."

"Fives." He corrected, figuring she meant Lincoln. "I'll get it in tens and twenties, promise." He said, blurring off to the basement of the DP.

He found Chloe on the old parking cone orange sofa in the basement's staff lounge. He was sure that once upon a time, in 1978, it had been a very nice sofa, one without cracked leather or with the vague scent of egg salad attached to it. But now, it was quite clear that Mabel had seen better days. However, she also happened to be the most comfortable sofa, he'd ever sat on, even better than the loft's, and, because of that, no one on the DP staff could bear to part with it.

It took a gentle nudge on her shoulder to waker her.

Wide eyes blinked up at him. "Clark? I thought you had a doctors' appointment."

He sighed and sat down on the sofa next to her. "I do. I have to be back on the farm in about five minutes, but Kara's covering me until then."

She frowned. "Did something happen? Is it Brainiac again?"

"No, of course not. If it were Brainiac, I'd have canceled." God, now that was all he needed-for the AI to rear its ugly head somewhere in the third trimester. What a mess that would be.

"Okay then, but what are you doing here?"

"I...well, Kara and I were talking over breakfast this morning."

"Uh-huh."

"And," he said, digging his fingers into the arm rest. "Kara is a terrible secret keeper."

Chloe's eyes shimmered with recognition. "She told you the sex already, didn't she?"

He nodded. "She didn't mean to, but it just slipped out. Then she insisted that I tell you."

"Insisted huh?"

"Well, she said you had money on me and my unborn child."

Chloe bit her lip nervously. "Lex did cut my salary and I needed the money. Besides, it was just a friendly thing. It's not that bad, Clark."

"I know." He said resignedly. "It's just that that's creepy. Next you'll be taking bets on if it looks more like me or Lana."

"You're both dark-haired with green eyes. The baby is going to look like both of you no matter what." She said matter of factly.

"Well, Kara still insisted that I report the results."

"And you couldn't wait to do that until after the appointment?"

"I could have, but I wanted to see you. My cousin has a point. I tell you when Fordman's ups the price on detergent or when the cows get sick. How could I wait to tell you about this?"

"Clark-" She started.

"Chlo." He countered.

She sighed and grabbed his hands. "Lana is not going to like this. Go home and I'll collect Kara's money later."

"Actually," he quipped. "I promised her your thirty dollars in Hamiltons and Jacksons."

Chloe, despite her reserved expression, lept across the sofa to hug him. "It's a boy?"

He squeezed her back for a long time and then, only after she'd resettled herself, he answered. "Yes, he is. Kara said she was sure and the doctors are about to say the same thing. Even mom knows since she begged it out of Kara."

"I...Clark, that's fantastic. You must be so thrilled." She said, her smile wide. "I can't wait. You should see the plans I have for this one. I mean, he's going to start early with journalism and we're so going to save up to send him to Excelsior or something. Your mom can spring for it. He's going to be way too smart for some stupid Podunk education."

"Hey! I have a Smallville education."

"Genius kid with alien intelligence. We're going to prep him so hard he'll be in Harvard by sixth grade."

Clark gulped. "You are scary competitive."

"Naturally," She replied. "I was Valedictorian. You do know I'm kidding about most of that. Smallville High has its charms. Besides, it's a weird enough town that no one notices anything different. What's more, they make an effort to do it. Still I am so excited. I'm better with boys, and he'll be writing for his school paper in no time."

Clark thought back over the three musketeers he, Pete, and Chloe had made. She definitely was better with guys. Besides, Lois was practically a perfect little soldier herself. "I've noticed. You aren't kidding about the journalism stuff, are you?"

"Oh, it's a noble profession, not just for men, of course."

"Wouldn't say that it was."

"But this is great. I'll get him all the important books and All the President's Men and his own pen and legal pad set-nice stuff."

"He's three months gestation. He doesn't even quite have ears yet."

"Minor detail. He's going to be at the Planet for summer internships just like his Aunt Chloe."

Clark grinned in amusement. "Maybe he won't like journalism."

"We all love journalism. You know, one day you'll go back to it too. Even Perry thought you were good."

Clark sighed and felt his light-hearted mood evaporate. Truth was, he wouldn't be leaving the farm for a long time to come, and he certainly wouldn't be able to go back to school for at least another three years. "In another lifetime, Chlo, but maybe the rugrat can make up for it."

"Maybe." She said neutrally. Taking his hand, she patted it again. "I...thank you for telling me. It means a lot." Then, with little fanfare, she pulled the thirty dollars out of her wallet. "Also, give this to Kara. It's the first bet I've ever been happy to lose."

"You're happy about this?"

She nodded. "You're going to be a really good father. I just know it."

Clark gave a small smile. "Thanks, Chlo. That means a lot." He sighed again and looked down at his watch. "I have to go or I'll be late to ISIS. I'll come back later, you know? Or maybe stop by The Talon if it takes too long. I can't wait to talk everything over with mom. She's probably been collecting toys and clothes behind my back already."

"Oh, Martha Kent is always prepared. She's like a boy scout." Chloe joked. "Thanks for sharing this with me, but it might be better if you don't let Lana know what a big mouth your cousin has."

"Agreed." He replied. Leaning over, he gave her a quick hug. "I'll be back soon and I'll bring the latest pictures. I'm sure your wallet's started feeling empty again by now."

"Bye, Speedy." She said as he sped back to the farm.


	9. Chapter 9

9

It was the first time his mom had come to ISIS, into the lab part, at least. Even though she'd known about everything for a few weeks, Clark had begged her into not coming into the bowels of the building. Oh, she'd met with his doctors-all six of them-and he'd never seen his mom more angry than when she'd come into Lana's private office and found a basketball-sized team of scientists waiting for her.

Man, and he'd been scared when she'd caught him eloping to Vegas that one time.

He'd spend most of that interrogation-and that's what it had been, he had no illusions about that part-silently watching his mother trade volleys with the doctors, especially Schwartz, whose condescension she clearly loathed most of all. For every reasonable argument she made, the same both he and Chloe had voiced earlier, the team offered the same pat responses, the same too Stepford to be real reassurances. No one had had more to say than Lana.

And, as with the first night his mother had known, the conversation between the two most important women in his life was anything but civil.

Clark still marveled at how high society people and, with his mom's upbringing and her rise through national politics and Lana's marriage to Lex, they both counted as that, could stay so outwardly calm but still seethe. His dad yelled, a lot. Chloe and Lois both swore like the soldiers on the bases they'd played on as children. Even he wasn't above throwing a bit of a fit himself. But his mom and Lana were eerily calm with each other and that made the fighting seem more intense and angry than anything else.

In the end, just like with him and Chloe and Kara, his mother had acquiesced to the treatment regimen at ISIS. She wasn't happy about it, and she'd left the room issuing promises-not threats, threats implied that the consequence might not come to pass-that if Dr. Schwartz and his team did anything to her son...well, his mom knew people now. Maybe she always had through his grandfather's connections. Still, she'd let it continue because, as bad as having them know , leaving him in Jor-El's care was so much worse.

The scientists were on Lana's payroll, under her control (or so he hoped) and, in the end, they couldn't do as much as Jor-El could. Yes, Clark was still very much terrified that at some point the trips to ISIS could become less than voluntary (and they weren't quite that at the moment, if he were honest with himself), but being in a cage he could somehow take. The thought of that torturing, mind-stripping AI trying to "parent" his son...

He could not bear it.

And neither could his mother.

So ISIS was, by default, still considered the best alien prenata care provider they had. Sometimes, Clark wished he'd gone to Ollie, but then there'd have been the embarrassment factor of explaining to Ollie everything and the unfortunate prospect of Ollie's team being poached yet again by Lex. Oh, and he had a feeling Lana would have killed him if he'd made good on his thoughts about going through the Green Arrow. Or worse, she could have left .

No, she wasn't going to do that.

Even if he had to go to ISIS, he didn't like having his mom come with him. Part of it was the scary, over-the-top Mamma Grizzly vibes she sent out, but the other part was that he knew this was the last thing she'd ever wanted to see for him. She'd cried for a week after the Summerholt incident, stupid superhearing picked up on all her clandestine sniffles with no problem.

But he couldn't keep her away from the testing stuff for long. Most of it wasn't that bad. He knew that humans with diabetes got blood draws all the time like him and Kara did now. It wasn't all that invasive, and the ultrasound stuff was a little awkward, but in now way painful. It's just he wished that his doctors, aside from Russell, were nicer to him.

He was stretched out on the table, as comfortable as possible. At least in the intervening weeks since they'd started this process, Lana had had her team acquire a table long enough for him. Maybe she'd been smart enough to have it specially made. Leaning back, he pulled up his t-shirt over his head and tossed it to his cousin.

She grabbed it with their characteristic preternatural ease and sighed. "Come on, let's get onto the good stuff."

Clark rolled his eyes patiently. At least his cousin was giving it her all to act like she hadn't been peaking for the last four days. "We're working on it."

His mom place one hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her winking slyly at Kara. "I'm sure it won't be much longer, dear. Besides, isn't the drawing out of the dramatic tension sometimes a good thing?"

Kara shook her head. "No. It's slow. I hate slow. It's such a hu...annoying thing."

"Clark's father always used to say that patience was a virtue."

Clark grinned and relaxed slightly at one of his father's aphorisms. "Yeah."

"And there's that turtle story with the rabbit and races and stuff. Still doesn't mean that I don't want to see things now."

"Kara, take a few deep breaths, please." Lana said curtly. She was standing on the opposite side of the table from his mother, her hand clutched in his. "Sometimes the doctors work better in silence."

"Do not. Dr. Russell and I talk all the time. When he does some of the hormone stuff is when I hear all the best knock-knock jokes."

Russell smiled. Beside him, Dr. Schwartz shook his head and turned back to his own sheets of bloodwork. Apparently the most expensive doctors couldn't afford much in the way of a sense of humor. "I have a new one for later."

"Sweet." Kara replied, leaning back against a lab table. "Do the gel stuff already."

"I...she's a little bossy." Clark said, for some reason feeling the need to explain away her behavior even after the five weeks at ISIS. The staff by now knew that Kara was short on patience and long on comebacks.

"It's fine, Clark." Dr. Russell replied, smoothing the gel over his stomach. Lana'd told him once that it was usually very cold, but he couldn't tell the difference. It did feel goopey against his skin and he squirmed a little.

His mother looked down at his stomach and smiled wistfully. "I remember what that was like." Her voice was steady and calm as always, but he could still hear the tinge of sadness in it. His mother had had many of these over the years. She'd miscarried a few times before he'd come to her, and then there was the after. Clark was very glad he wasn't showing yet and not because of vanity. He had a feeling that, as oddly happy as his mother was, and she was as excited about becoming a grandmother as Chloe and Kara were to be "aunts," she was going to have a hard time watching him do what she'd always wanted to.

God, he'd trade her in a heartbeat.

Slipping his hand out of Lana's, he reached over and gave hers a squeeze. "I'm glad you're here, mom."

She nodded and he hoped she understood that he meant more than just the gratitude about not being in ISIS quite as alone as before. He wanted her to share this. Hell, he wanted his whole family to. "Me too, baby."

Clark sighed and squirmed just a little as the wand apparatus was placed over his abdomen. "See anything interesting yet?"

"Not quite yet and there." Dr. Russell replied, stopping on the fetus. It was much larger than even three weeks ago and that whole tail thing had, much to Clark's relief, cleared up. The head was pretty huge, but people kept assuring him that it was normal, so he was learning to relax about it. After all, it's not like he looked anything other than perfectly human. Of course, he had no idea what he'd been born looking like, but all of Kara's holos made him like 95% sure that his son was going to be nice and normal.

Until the superstrength kicked in, at least.

"See," Dr. Russell said. "You can see the ears-"

"Oh cute! Can the baby hear?" Kara asked.

"No, but it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to start talking to the baby. It's a solid habit to get into and it helps with the bonding. In a few weeks, if you'd like, you can start playing music as well."

"Sweet, Lois has all these great rock songs."

"My kid is not growing up on lycra rock." Clark replied.

"I'm sure we'll find something more fitting. Perhaps something with Sesame Street behind it?" His mom suggested.

"Or maybe something classical." Lana mused and she'd never struck him as anything more than a top 40 girl. Of course, he had noticed her once in a while tuning into opera late at night when she worked on some of her files for ISIS.

"Mozart is supposed to make the baby smarter." His mom added.

"And here," Dr. Russell said firmly, "if we just keep moving down we should be able to and, yes. I can see it now. That's the baby's genitals right there." He said, reaching out toward the monitor to point out the slightly rounded swell between the babies legs. He beamed brightly at both of them. "Congratulations, Clark and Mrs., um, Miss Lang. It's a boy."

To both Kara and his mom's credit, both of them managed too "ooh" and "awe" as if it was the most amazing revelation they'd ever heard.

"That's so cool, Kal."

"It's wonderful, sweetheart."

Lana, for her part, was unerringly quite. She stared at the screen for a long time, a deep frown marring her features.

"Lana?" He asked.

Her head snapped back to him. "Oh, it's nothing. I mean, this is great, Clark, really great." She leaned over and gave him a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. He'd had more intimate kissed from his mother. No, wait, that sounded wrong. It was just a lot more like a polite family kiss than the overjoyed, excited one that parents-to-be should be sharing at the moment.

"Yeah," He offered awkwardly. "I...isn't it just?"

"Yes. This is going to be wonderful." She said, giving him the same smile his mom gave reporters on the hill.

"Well, Clark, Miss Lang." Dr. Russell replied, wiping off Clark's stomach. "I think that's about it for today. We have the blood work we need and if you wait a few minutes, I can just print out the latest pictures for all of you."

"Get quadruples! I need to bring a copy to Chloe in case she totally defaults on our bet. Kal, you did tell her that she owed me, didn't you?"

Clark froze with his t-shirt half over his head. "I...what?"

"Chloe. You told her that the baby was a boy when you saw her and that she owed me money, didn't you?"

Clark slipped his shirt on so fast that part of it tore. "I-"

Lana's eyes narrowed at his cousin as she swept up her purse. "How long have you known, Kara?"

Her eyes widened as Kara realized what she'd accidentally let slip. "Kal, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"How long?"

Kara sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I've been watching the baby every day for weeks. I noticed it about three days ago."

Across the room, Dr. Schwartz's head sprang up. "You can see through things?"

"Um, no?" Kara offered, realizing her mistake.

The next response reminded Clark of when he'd been younger on the farm and had gotten into the habit of leaving out juice boxes in the loft. Nothing swarmed on sweets like bees and nothing swarmed to weird alien powers like scientists.

Every lab coat in the room was had dropped their work and were now striding forward to him and Kara. Without thinking about it, Clark rushed to stand between Kara and them. His mother, however, had beat him to that and was now standing in front of both of them.

"Senator Kent," Dr. Schwartz started. "We were unaware of this particular abnormality."

"Ability," his mother corrected. "It's an ability and, as far as I'm concerned, what my children can or can't do with their eyesight has no bearing on taking care of my grandson."

"But the more we know about them-" Dr. Meyers started.

"No, nothing about how their eyes work has anything to do with how to keep my son and his child safe." His mother replied, her tone stiff and her shoulders held high. "The conditions are that you take care of what's happening here." She said, bringing a hand to his stomach. "You are not going to do other experiments just because it interests you. This is not a science fair."

"Whoa. Go Aunt Martha!" Kara chanted.

Lana, finally recovered from the shock of learning that Chloe knew first, turned to her team. "Kara and Clark's other abilities-if there are any-are not your concern. The strength matters. If the baby might develop it early and hurt him, that matters. But nothing else."

"Miss Lang."

"You'll do as I say. That's how the contracts work, Dr. Schwartz. Besides, I'm sure the AMA would be interested to see all of your more colorful records."

Clark frowned. "What?"

His mother shook her head, and tugged his arm so that he moved a little away from Lana. "Lana, we'll be talking about your 'staff' later. The rest of this is not an argument for mixed company. We're leaving."

Clark frowned between his mother and Lana. What she'd said didn't make sense. Why would the doctor have colorful medical records? Was she blackmailing him to care for them? God, what kind of doctor could he be if he was close to losing his liscence?

"Kal?" Kara asked, as she brushed a hand over his shoulder. "Are you okay? You seem upset."

"I...it's nothing, Kara." He replied, reaching out for Lana's hand and trying hard not to flinch when she refused to give it to him.

The echoes of his boots down ISIS's hallway had never resounded so loudly as they did when he trailed out after her.

Lana was making short work of the pillows on the bed, throwing the decorative collection of floral printed fluff to the floor. Clark eyed the bed warily as he slipped his flannel pajama pants over his hips. He didn't want to hop in their tonight.

"I can't believe you told her first. Do you know how that makes me feel? Do you know how terrible it is for me?"

"I...she couldn't come."

"That's not even the point!" Lana shouted, pointing at his stomach. " I'm the mother. Why the Hell do you keep forgetting that?"

Clark just refrained from running his hand over his stomach. "God, believe me. I know who the mother is." And he hoped the double entendre of his position didn't come back to bite him in the ass. "I'm trying to make you a part of everything. I spend every day, almost all day, with you in appointments. I haven't seen my friends or, in Lois and Jimmy's cases, tolerated acquaintances in over a week. I listen to everything you tell me to do. I eat what you and the doctors say eat. I go where I'm supposed to. I never complain about anything. I'm doing everything I can to make it up to you since you're not the one who's..." He trailed off, unable to complete that thought.

"Since I'm not the one carrying it."

"Him." Clark corrected quietly.

"Sorry. I'm not the one carrying him but I know the least about him. When you find out your pregnant it's about Kara and Chloe. When it comes time to find out about his sex, it's about Kara and Chloe again!"

"Kara peaked!" He defended. "Unless I started wearing a lead vest, she was always going to know about me and about the baby."

"She told your mom, didn't she? Martha wasn't all that surprised to find out you were having a boy."

Clark flinched. " We're having our son, for one thing and, yeah, Kara has a big mouth."

"So, I've noticed. But you told Chloe."

"I...she let it slip about the baby and I couldn't not tell Chloe. She was so excited. I would have told you. Kara would have done it when she told mom but you didn't want to do it that way."

"I wanted," Lana replied, tearing back the sheets, "to do it the normal way. You go to the doctors. They examine you with an ultrasound, and then it's revealed that you're having a child of whichever sex. That's the way it's supposed to go."

"There's nothing normal about any of this, Lana, and there's not going to be."

"Don't be so melodramatic, Clark." She replied, slipping into bed. "Aside from the obvious. We can do everything the way it's supposed to be done. No one uses X-ray vision to see the baby outside of the office. We just go about as if it were me and not you."

"First," he replied, still hesitated toward the side. "Kara can use her vision however she wants. Second, we can't go about pretending anything. It's just not so obvious to you right now what's going on outside of the doctors' visits. I am already so invested in it that I can't describe it. I can hear his heart beat every second of every day. I'm the one who has to do all of this and might get sick or hurt or who the Hell knows what all else." He hesitated before he continued. "Our child's not going to be normal; you do understand that, don't you?"

"Of course. I'm the one reading through the DNA tests. But it doesn't mean that we don't do this as normal as possible. Didn't your parents try and keep you as human as possible as long as possible?"

Clark sighed and sat down on the side of the bed. "They lied to me as long as was possible and they were right to do it. We'll have to be secretive with him, but Kara's here now and she never shuts up about Krypton. There's always meteor mutants and Lex and I used my powers a lot and he'd catch me at it some time. I'm not saying we'd explain to him where we actually come from right away-I might have to duct tape Kara's mouth shut for a decade-but he's going to know that his father's weird. He's probably going to have powers from when he's very little. If it's already weird, and it very much is, why do we have to keep going through the motions to pretend that it's not?"

"Well, if you don't want normal, then sneaking off with Chloe behind my back covers it."

Clark pulled up the covers to his chest fiercely. "You make it sound dirty. It's nothing like that. She's been my best friend since I was thirteen. Honestly, Kara's my cousin and I have mom and we're kind of married, if you think about it. Chloe's the only real friend I have. Lois and Jimmy don't know anything about me, and Pete hasn't returned my calls in three years, and Lex is nuts. I...if it had been Pete, I'd have rushed off to tell him just the same."

Of course, Pete's reaction would be more like Lana's. Chloe embraced the weird. Lana tolerated it for his sake, and Pete was downright suspicious of it, unless he could turn it into a vending machine opportunity. He couldn't imagine his former friend being thrilled to find out his best guy friend was pregnant.

Yeah, right.

"But she's not Pete."

"Well, no."

Lana snorted. "She acts like it's hers, you know."

"She does not. She just is as happy about being an aunt as Kara is. Hell, it's not like she's picked out paint swatches or anything. Lana, I just want her to be as much a part of this as mom or Kara."

"I don't."

Clark's eyes widened. "She's your best friend, too."

"But she's not family like the others are. I don't like her butting into things. Clark, I'm already the outsider on this because he's not totally mine."

"Of course he's yours." He said, his voice softening. "You are the mom. You know that, and after he's born, you'll be the mom and do all those mom things. You know, the stuff that involves no sleep. I promise. I...you're not going to be sick like you thought you were last time. You won't get all the stretch mark stuff and you aren't throwing up daily like I am now. You get all the fun things and I'm the one it's just going to get worse for."

Lana considered this and nodded, offering a weak pat on her hand. "That's one way to look at it. Just, promise me Clark that you'll come to me first on everything. I need to come first, our family needs to come first."

"I'm still going to hang out with Chloe."

"Fine."

"Exactly." He said, snuggling a little closer to her. He noticed her scoot carefully away from his stomach, which was kind of stupid since the baby wasn't even an inch long yet and couldn't be seen at all by normal eyes. It struck him then that while Kara wouldn't stop staring at him and while Chloe couldn't keep her hands off of his stomach, Lana avoided the whole thing. Even at the prenatal check-ups, she focused firmly on the monitors and not on him. She hadn't touched his middle once since she found out he was...well screwed was the best euphemism he could use for it.

Maybe it was just because she wished she were the one so badly.

Maybe it was just taking a while for her to adjust.

She couldn't be...no, it wasn't even that gross yet. It was always all in his head.

"Good night, Clark."

"Night...wait," He said, rolling onto his side. "What did you mean when you yelled at Dr. Schwartz today. What did he do?"

"Nothing."

"You don't threaten to get someone's license revoked for nothing. Is he going to hurt the baby?"

"No. It's just he had a few clinical trials that he technically started before final ethics board approval. It's not a big deal, just a technicality. He's a genius doctor."

"And the others? Are they all as 'manageable?' Do they all have something you're holding over their heads?"

"I don't like what you're implying."

"I don't like that your blackmailing my head doctor and never mentioned his less-than-stellar ethics."

"It's minor stuff, Clark. The others had a few gambling debts or grants that couldn't come through until I pulled strings. They know who they're loyal too and that's what matters. It's how the game works."

"It's not a game." He choked out. "You can't just manipulate people like that."

"And if I just relied on human decency, they'd sell you out. I'm being cautious."

"And you've hired a man who could be dangerous."

"Not with what I have on him." She said firmly, glaring at him in a way that reminded him uncomfortably of how she'd been with his powers.

"Who are you?" He said, so low that Lana didn't quite hear it.

"What?"

"Nothing. I...never mind." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and grateful when she let him do it. She was so mad. "So I screwed up with Chloe. I know it, but you're happy, aren't you? You didn't seem too thrilled to find out it was a boy."

"I never really wanted one," she replied, honestly. "I was looking forward to fairy princess costumes and tea parties, to cotillion and dressage."

Clark side and bit back his first response that, despite growing up on a farm, he hadn't been allowed to ride until he was twelve. Kara still wasn't allowed near the horses because there were always accidents with their strength, broken ribs and such. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

Technically, he assumed that was true since guys were supposed to determine the sex. He was kind of assuming he had some Y-chromosomes running around somewhere, but still. He'd failed by not giving her a daughter somehow.

"No, it's not." She replied, turning back to him and offering a painfully plasticine smile. "I'm sure I'll get used to it being a boy. I...it's fine, Clark. Now get some sleep. They want to do some more hormone tests, now that they know the sex. It's going to be a long day."

Clark shuddered. He hated those more than anything and now he'd never look at his team and not wonder who they really were underneath and where Lana had found them.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Clark pulled nervously on the tie he was wearing. The last time he'd worn a suit was a week after Lana's "death," when his mother had been sworn into office. He didn't like them that much. They made him feel confined and they reminded him of the year his dad had run for office and all the photo ops Lois had forced him into.

Dressed up and fancy just didn't feel like him.

Still, Lana was taking him out to one of the nicest restaurants in Metropolis. It was her way of trying to make it up to him that there'd been so many tests in the first trimester. It had only been a week since they'd learned that they were having a son, and things were going better. So far, his doctors hadn't done anything wrong. He was half-tempted to have Chloe or even Kara do a background check on the team, but he was afraid of what he'd find.

Dr. Schwartz was smart. He treated him and Kara like they were sea monkeys, but he was a brilliant theorist. He'd come up with the supplements he'd been taking and, so far, it was the only thing helping him at least maintain weight. Well, actually, he'd gained three pounds and the doctors were so excited you'd have thought that he'd won another football title. They'd tested (naturally). He and Kara had metabolisms as fast as they were.

It was just another one of those complications.

So, Dr. Schwartz hadn't hurt either him or his son, so far. Besides, it was a form thing. He'd gotten into trouble once with the college registrar for forgetting to turn in the class selection form on the right day. Maybe Dr. Schwartz had just forgotten to dot the right "i" somewhere.

It would be okay.

"Clark?" Lana prodded. "The waiter's waiting for an answer."

He blushed. He'd been so busy wondering about the baby and ISIS, that he'd barely registered the man's approach. Superhearing really only worked if he was paying attention. "I...oh, jeez." He said, perusing the menu and then something particularly enticing teased at his nose. Quirking his head, Clark stared at the plate on the table next to him. "What's he having?"

"Caesar salad, sir."

Lana pinched up her face. "You'd need to eat more than that."

"I know." He groused, but it smelled really good. "Um, what are the little fish on top?"

"Anchovies, sir."

"I...do you just sell those? Like a whole plate? With, um, I don't know, maybe some ranch dressing or something."

The waiter, who reminded Clark somewhat of that guy on the Monopoly box, dropped his jaw. "Excuse me, sir?"

See, when you were rich or, at least, on the arm of a foundation originator in Metropolis high society, the "help" couldn't call you nuts to your face. It was bad for business. They could, however, arch their eyebrows at you as if you started gibbering in Kryptonian.

Clark's blush deepened and he slunk into his chair. "Nevermind. I...steak's good. Medium rare."

Lana sighed and took the menu from him, handing it off to the waiter. "Bring both."

"Madamoiselle?"

"You heard me. Bring exactly what he asked for."

"I, very well." He said, turning on his heels and hurrying briskly back to the kitchen.

Clark had never gotten used to the advantages Lex had. Whenever he asked for something-no matter how outrageous-it just appeared like by magic. When he'd been young and more mischievous, he'd once asked Lex if his butler could get him a pogo stick, just to have Lex refuse him something.

It had taken Enrique half an hour.

Clark had timed him.

Being out with Lana Lang, founder and CEO of ISIS, was a lot like that. Not that they had buckets of money, but there was a certain cache that came from having been married to one of the richest men in the world and that came from knowing the rich and powerful in Metropolis. Clark adjusted the knot in his tie again and looked over at the surrounding tables, set with crystal and silverware that was a hundred percent the genuine article. He wasn't a fashion expert by any means. Frankly, if he weren't blessed with vision that could see any spectra, he'd never be able to tell the difference between black and navy blue. However, he knew just by glancing at them that the women were wearing dresses that probably cost more than his mortgage payment. Glancing closer, he could make out the bright glint of gold cuff links in the men's sleeves.

Clark sighed and picked at the frayed sleeve of the Fordman's special he'd had since high school graduation.

Sometimes it wasn't just being Kryptonian, that made him different from Lana. Sometimes it was just that she'd become so high society-maybe always had been bred for that considering her aunt and Lionel had been "friends" for years-and he was still just that guy from the farm.

"Clark?" Lana asked, her voice sweet and lispy and genuine. It made him feel better, like he could still recognize her. Looking up to face her, the illusion shattered. Lana was wearing some of the expensive designer clothes she'd purchased in Shanghai and her hair was pulled back in a severe bun. Even her make-up was darker than it had been back in college.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You seem quiet?"

"No, I'm fine, really fine." He said, letting the awkward silence fill the void behind them. It was then he realized that he couldn't remember the last time they'd talked either. There'd been facts and figures and tests to go over at the lab and doctors to negotiate with, but he couldn't remember the last time they'd just enjoyed each other's company. Come to think of it, before he'd...well there'd been a lot of alone time but there definitely hadn't been talking. Then before that was the mess with the Phantom and his disappearance and all the horrible things she'd done with his powers.

"So."

"Yeah." he said. "Uh, Lois and Chloe say hi. I swung by the Planet two days ago. Chloe mentioned that she missed you and Lois says she hasn't seen you since before you..." married my greatest enemy "...um, for a while."

"Well," she replied, eying his chest (though not his stomach, he noted). "I've been busy."

"Yeah, totally. I...they wanted to know if you were up for a girls' weekend thing, and then I told them I was not going to be the go-between for this stuff."

"So I see," She replied, quirking her lips in a slight smile. "I have other things to do at ISIS and Chloe definitely does not seem interested in that."

No, she wouldn't. Chloe was cautious of any place that claimed to help the meteor infected or to even research them at all. She'd have to be. From now on, ever since her power had manifested, she had to be as careful of doctors as he and Kara normally were.

"They were just offering."

"You know," Lana said. "You shouldn't go by the Planet."

"Chloe's my friend." He countered reasonably. "I can have a ham and swiss with her if I want."

"It's not that," Lana replied in a clipped tone that made him think it very much was that. "It's just that it's a habit you'll have to break soon. You're going to show."

"It's only been twelve weeks and I just started gaining."

"And Lex owns the building, works there, and has it under surveillance 24/7. Eventually, he's going to notice something."

"Well I wasn't going to be there at six months or anything." He replied.

"But you could break the habit now." She started.

He sighed and sipped his water. He'd have killed for even a little bit of Coca-cola. "In three months, I'll have to be a hermit. I don't see the point in pressing it now."

"I'm just saying-"

"I know." He replied, digging into his plate of salad dressing soaked fish. "I just...what else is new?"

Lana gave a pained sigh of her own and wrinkled her nose at his first bite of salad. "What isn't?"

Fifteen Weeks

"Eat more." His mother said, pushing the pie plate back at him.

Clark put his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his broad palms. "I'm full."

Kara snorted. "We're never full."

"I am. I already had to drink all that awful crap all day and I've had enough spinach to make Pop-eye vomit and two hamburgers and potatoes and I don't need half a cherry pie." And, boy, he never thought that he'd be sick of his mom's pie.

His mom sighed. "I know, sweetie, but you actually lost weight last week, so more pie."

"A few days of not drinking that crap and now I'm being force fed." He groused.

Kara rolled her eyes again and pulled a cherry out of his slice. "It's one of those days."

He crossed his arms over his chest and then dropped them. It wouldn't really make his point if he were pouting. "It's not."

"Hormones suck." She chirped, patting his shoulder. "Welcome to the club."

He banged his head against the table's top. "Make it stop."

"You have five more months, sweetie." His mom reminded him. "Finish your pie."

Clark raised his head and, slipping into superspeed, polished it off. "Done."

His mother smiled warmly at him. "That's good. You know, you still have to finish the rest of your protein drink."

"Can I go upstairs for a while and you bring it up? I just...yuck, no more."

"Going to Rusty?" Kara asked.

"Ralph," he corrected. "No, the morning sickness cleared up, but sometimes a guy is just full." He finished eying the clock. It was almost 9 PM, not exceptionally late, but Lana still wasn't back from ISIS. She'd had some late meeting, something about that acquisition she was still working on, and she promised she'd be home for dinner.

She promised that a lot.

"Baby?" His mom said as he stood up and headed for the stairs.

"I'm fine, mom. I just...it was a lot tests today. I just want some rest. If... when Lana gets home, I'll be in our room."

"Duh, Kal. I think she'd guess that."

"Sweetie, just go upstairs. I'll bring your drink later."

"Thanks mom," he said, trudging up the stairs to his empty room. No, correction, their empty room.

Chloe had always been big on hugging him and, frankly, he'd been big about hugging her. He definitely hugged her more than he ever had Pete but, of course, guys didn't hug. They did that half-embrace thing with a manly slap on the back. Of course, it wasn't like they embraced that often outside of life and death, "I'm glad the newest crazy space alien/mutant/Lex minion/mailman didn't kill us" way.

Although, in their fucked up lives, that wasn't saying much.

Right now though, Chloe was giving him an enthusiastic hug and quickly making room for him on Mabel. Clark chuckled as he slunk down onto the sofa. There was a brown stain on it that hadn't been there four days ago. He was pretty sure it was related to the great soy sauce disaster Kara'd complained about all Monday until a placating phone call from his mom and the secret of club soda had calmed her rant.

"That's comfy." He said, leaning back. While La Petite Flor felt stifling, the Planet always felt like home. God, he came here often enough that most of the basement knew him. The intern for the sports section kept joking he should just join the mailroom, while Jimmy would catch him on the sofa and prod him, less-than-subtly, for some deeper info on Kara. Her "birthday" was coming up (according to Chlo's completely fake birth certificate) and he was trying hard to think of something better than a gift certificate. Hell, even Bernstein would give him a curt nod from time to time.

"Comfy, schmomfy." Chloe scoffed. "Off with it."

"Excuse me?"

She yanked on his sweatshirt's corner. "First, it's August. That is so not fooling anyone. It's weirder that you're wearing it than if you didn't. Second, I want to see my nephew better."

Clark rolled his eyes but couldn't help but oblige her enthusiasm. Kara and his mom were so excited. His mother flew home regularly on Thursday nights and left on the red eye back on Sundays so she could help take care of him. He'd offered to run by D.C. a few times a week so she wouldn't miss anything. His mother had refused because she thought the running would have eaten up too much energy. Still, she was always on the farm now, much more than she'd been the year before. She and Kara were scheming. He could tell. He was pretty sure they'd graduated from paint swatches to fabric samples and curtain patterns and cribs and everything else.

Still, the enthusiasm was refreshing.

Lana seemed more subdued about the whole thing.

Clark sighed and rubbed his stomach. He wasn't going to take that personally. He remembered storming into the mansion last Thanksgiving and seeing her crying. He assumed something terrible had happened. He'd never seen anyone react to being told they were pregnant like that.

At first, he'd thought it had been cancer or something.

Yeah, so it definitely wasn't a him thing or a "holy fuck my boyfriend's having my half-alien baby" thing. Lana was just not good with change.

However, it was still kind of a downer.

Chloe's bright smile and bouncy disposition was the perfect remedy for all the tension at home. "Well, go on. Off with it."

"You know," he said, pulling the old Crows sweatshirt over his head. "He's still not all that impressive. I mean, I only gained the twelve pounds so far."

Chloe frowned. "It was thirteen."

"Not you too. Mom and Kara and Lana and the doctors are all over me about this. I had one week where I didn't drink everything and then there was this problem with what I'm pretty sure was a meteor-infected person with the ability to move Earth and the fence was broken and I didn't know and I had to run down the cows."

"Bovine born free, huh?"

"Something like that. Superspeed burns a lot of calories. They think that Kara needs at least 7,000 a day. I need so much more."

She whistled and pinched her hip. "You do know that I want to have your problems, right? Donuts have gone straight to my ass this swimsuit season."

"I need more guy friends." He replied and then added. "I think you look great, Chlo."

"Right. It's all lip service. I know how it is. I love Lo, but whenever I go some place with her, all the eyes are on her. When your cousin comes into the basement, all the guys stare." She smirked. "Hell, if you'd go up a floor to life and style, the guys on the fashion section would stop and stare too."

He patted his stomach. "Unlikely."

"Yeah, poor baby. So now you're not completely ripped. You still don't exactly look like you've grown a beer gut either."

"It's a work in progress, and I have gone up a whole jeans' size."

"Amateur. I do that at least once a year at college, depending on how bad finals' pressure gets."

"Really? You could have fooled me. You always look great."

"I'm keeping you around more. You could give a girl a swelled head." She replied, giving him a forced smile. "I know I'm nothing special. Seriously, did you ever ask Kara about that one. I think your planet had some kind of conspiracy to get rid of the ugly people. Even your evil psycho robots are kind of hot."

"Fine is not." He said, frowning. "Have you had any luck with locating him yet?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

"I...well, I might have called J'onn."

"Chloe, god, how could you do that? Hell, how'd you even find him?"

"He's not that hard to find. He goes by the name John Jones-spelled in normal English. He's been one of New York's finest for years. I called him two months ago and explained that you were having adjustment issues with Kara, stuff from that whole no memory/Zor-El mess and that you couldn't track Brainiac down."

"He bought that?"

"I might have implied you were worried about Kara going AWOL. He's not a big fan of the other half of the Els. He's on it, but even he hasn't found anything yet."

Clark narrowed his eyes at her, something just occurring to him. "The earth mover's the first mutant-um, sorry?"

"No offense taken, Chewbacca."

"Whatever, Jean Grey. Anyway, he's the first I've dealt with in two months."

"Imagine that."

"You've been covering this stuff for me, haven't you?"

"Me? Not so much. Resurrecting powers don't do much to stop villains with superstrength. However, Kara and I might have done this girl power team-up bit after hours to make sure the 'ville stays safe."

"Chloe, it's dangerous."

"Kara's as strong as you are and she's been junior Scoobying for most of a year now. Besides," she added, her tone strained. "We both know that I can't die, especially after that stupid incident last month with that nutcase at the post office."

"Don't remind me." He said, gripping her hand in his. He wasn't sure which one of the two of them it was that drew trouble so well. Clark seemed to be the universe's butt monkey, but Chloe had a nose for danger as well. At either rate, they usually had to seek it out but, by dumb and incredibly shitty luck, he'd gone with Chloe to drop off her bills at the post office by the Planet and one of the worker's had gone, well, postal.

He'd got off a round and Chloe'd been struck point blank.

Clark had had a heart attack for about five minutes before her chest, on its own accord, had glowed rose and knitted itself back together. Chloe'd been shaken, understandably, but she'd been dead twice already this year and had shaken it off remarkably well.

Okay, she still had nightmares. He could tell by the way he sometimes woke up with a third heart hammering in his ears. It had scared him terribly the first time it had happened because he thought that something was wrong with the baby. It had taken him a few panicked moments to pick out her altered, but familiar, rhythm and rush over to The Talon to check on her.

Lana'd been furious when he'd come home late the next morning for chores.

However, her panic had mostly faded over the last month and now they were both sure that Chloe Sullivan was almost as invulnerable as he or Kara were.

She squeezed his hand back. "I'm still mad I was almost a cliche. Shot by the mailman, please."

"Chlo!"

"Anyway, don't worry. Kara and I are on the meteor-enhanced, J'onn's tracking down Fine-he was in Russia, last I heard-and Oliver and Company are still on the 33.1 front. The world won't end without you for another few months."

"Well now I feel all replaceable."

"Don't sulk."

"I'm not."

"God, you're worse than your cousin."

"I am not!"

She smirked. "Don't be all offended. It's not even a pregnancy thing. It's a you thing. God, you are so mopey. It took two travelers, a league of superheroes, and an immortal reporter to replace one of you. You're one of a kind."

"Right. You're not enjoying the Scoobying with the blonde, perky version more, are you?" And no, he really didn't sound like a thirteen year old girl then. Stupid hormones.

"Of course not. Kara's too hyperactive for my taste and she never shuts up."

"Pot meet kettle."

"Cliche!" she crowed. "You, Mr. Kent, owe me coffee."

"Herbal tea. You can't get any boost out of the caffeine anyway and I am sick of no coffee. It sucks."

"You really think that it makes a difference?" She asked, her tone sobering.

"Half-human." Clark corrected. "He could get sick."

"He so won't." Chloe replied firmly, patting the slight bulge spilling over the band of his jean. "See, I missed this this last week."

"Well, technically, I got smaller."

"Tut-tut. I missed nephew time, not cool." Chloe said, letting her hand rest over his stomach. Clark had long since abandoned his dignity. That had gotten checked at the door the first time Lana's team had turned their surprised gape his way. He'd made a bit of a fuss the first few weeks about Chloe's almost obsession with his stomach, no, screw it. It was an obsession now, but after nine weeks, he really liked it.

And it didn't have anything to do with the fact that, ostensibly, a cute blonde couldn't keep her hands off of him, not that he thought of Chloe like that. He didn't, but he had no idea why she'd think of herself as unattractive either. Yes, Lana had an exotic beauty and Lois reminded him a bit of a playboy model. Kara was just Kara but he could probably get why Jimmy liked her. But Chloe was pretty, too. He'd always thought so.

She was his buddy now, but he'd been very attracted to her in high school.

Hell, when she smiled widely like she was now, she was beautiful.

And pretty damn infectious.

He leaned back further and smiled for what felt like the first time in weeks. "Sorry. The doctors kind of freaked this week and I had a lot of bed rest until they felt I wasn't exercising too much. I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit as much as I used to."

"I know. I get it. There'll probably be even less time in the basement after he's born but more babysitting time."

"Get in line behind Kara."

"Well, I can be supportive." She said. "I suck at diapers, though."

Clark looked down at his hands. He'd never been good with delicate stuff. Man, sometimes if he didn't concentrate hard enough, he tore steel. He was going to shred the plastic that made diapers. "Me too, I think. I must have gone through a dozen with Evan each time. Oh god, I can't do diapers or burp or make bottles. I mean, just the one time, but oh God!"

Chloe slapped him half-heartedly on the back of his head. "Don't freak out. You've got five months and your mom and me and Kara and Lana are all going to help."

"But what if I screw it up."

"You will."

"Chlo!"

"It's a statistical fact. At some point, you'll make a mistake or do something he won't like or complain about like my dad and his eight million embarrassing fart jokes, but you're going to do a lot of things right too like with Ryan and Evan and Maddie."

"I, thanks."

"Besides, I wouldn't worry about bottles and formula if I were you."

"You wouldn't?"

"Oh no." Chloe replied, patting his chest. "I'm betting on nursing. Kara mentioned-"

"You know," he groaned. "If she'd been this big with the sharing four months ago, my life would be very different." Chloe smiled. "What?"

"You said 'different,' not 'better.'"

"Huh?"

"You said that your life would be different, but you didn't say you'd be better off without him."

Clark rubbed his stomach and focused his hearing even more acutely on his son. That steady rhythm was the best thing he heard all day, and he couldn't imagine living without it or without him. "Never."

"I'm glad. I was kind of worried in the beginning. You were really upset."

"You think?"

"And Lana's...well, she's been really distant lately."

"Distant? She's been down right bitchy." A familiar strident voice called from across the break room.

Chloe dropped her hand from his midsection immediately and scooted across the sofa. Clark, for his part, pulled his t-shirt down as low as it would go. He really should have kept the stupid sweatshirt on.

"Smallville! Hey, long time, no see." Lois replied. "Also, nice to see you not trying to give yourself sunstroke. Jeez, who wears a sweatshirt in the middle of the city's worst heat wave in twenty years?"

"I...um, I've been having chills because of this fever."

"So you came into work to give it to us all. Thanks for spreading the love." She said, kicking at the vending machine and cursing lividly until it spit out her Cheetos.

"Well, I missed Chloe." He said, moving over to accommodate for everything when Lois pushed her way between him and Chloe.

"And when she gets mono or strep or whatever, she'll love you for it." Lois replied.

"Sorry, I'll go."

"Well, you've spread the germs now. Besides, I'm healthy as a horse. I've had germs from all over the planet. You're not going to infect me. Besides, I've missed you too."

"Satellite on the fritz, again?"

"No. I just missed the way you make for the world's biggest paper weight."

"Funny, Lo, really funny." Chloe quipped, fishing something out of her purse. "Look, I have to run. I need to make a deadline or Bernstein will kill me. However," she said, handing him an honest-to-god cassette tape. "I have a present."

Clark eyed the tape like she'd handed him a dinosaur egg. "What do I do with this."

She rolled her eyes. "I know your dad. You have something nice and old to work with this. Just listen to it." Chloe gave his stomach a quick once over. "I think the whole family is going to enjoy it."

"Right. Kara's going to love that lame tape Uncle Gabe always made me listen too. Please, that's the Kent cousin with taste. She appreciates the fine melodic touch of Def Leppard."

Clark shivered and stood up. "Thanks, Chlo. I, uh, well Kara has a doctor's appointment tomorrow but please come by the farm on Friday. Uh...we're naming the new calf."

"Norman." Lois said.

"What?"

"Norman, Smallville. All cows are named Norman."

"They're really not."

Chloe giggled. "It's beyond your pop culture scope, Clark. I'd love to come but are you sure I'm invited."

"Yeesh, cuz. It's a cow, not an invitation to dine with the pope." Lois finished.

"I...right. I'll see you at six sharp, then." Chloe said, shrugging slightly. "Listen to the tape before then, 'k. I think you'll really like it."

"No, you won't." Lois added helpfully and then glanced down at him. "Did you gain weight?"

Clark placed his arms around his waist as if that just didn't make it more obvious. "A little. I haven't been able to do chores with my cold and it's not that bad."

"Not that much but it's a bit of a change from the football bit. Hit the Wild Coyote too much to shoot the shit?"

"No!" he shouted. "I...I just gotta go."

"Don't be so sensitive, Smallville. Everyone gets love handles some time. Think of Uncle Gabe or Perry."

"Lois, stop helping." Chloe said, grabbing her cousin's arm. "It's fine, Clark."

"Yeah, some girls like that whole grizzly bear look. Not me-Ollie was such a god shirtless-but I'm sure Lana's totally happy."

"Lois! How about you go grab a table at Starbucks? I can bring my laptop and finish my article there. It's the afternoon rush and we need to save the table stat."

"Fine," Lois huffed, rolling her eyes. "But you owe me one. Smallville, I'm sorry. I have that foot in mouth thing. You look fine, honest."

"Just stop talking, Lois." He huffed.

"And that's my cue to leave for greener pastures." She said before disappearing out the door.

Clark picked up his sweatshirt and pulled it over his stomach. "I do look bad."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a girl. Go home and eat everything Martha says. Don't let Lois's tendency to speak before she thinks endanger my nephew."

"But Chlo, do you think-"

"Oh God. You know you're perfect. Your entire race is like a collection of supermodels. Lana's ethereal and perfect. My nephew's going to outdo the Brangelina brats. Now, ego-boosted, present delivered, and nephew seen. Go home, Clark, and eat Martha's pie."

"Yes ma'am," he answered, blurring back to the farm.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Clark was humming slightly to himself, bobbing his head in rhythm with the song Chloe had given to him. He'd been able, with some concerted effort in searching through the attic, to find an old boombox of his father's, complete with an extension for a large pair of headphones. He currently had the large padded things propped against his stomach.

Really, it was a good thing he'd given up on preserving his dignity some time back because he was pretty sure he looked ridiculous.

Lana looked up from the magazine she was reading on her side of the bed. "Really?"

"What?" He asked, guileless. "I think it's kind of funny."

Over the headphones, Eric Idle had started into the final part of the song, " So always look on the bright side of death!/Just before you draw your terminal breath. ." He should have seen it coming, really. Chloe's dad loved comedy. He professed a deep love for classic SNL and the best of Jim Carrey, but it didn't surprise Clark in the least that her dad and Chloe by extension were Monty Python fans.

Hell, she'd sat him down and forced him to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail when they were in eighth grade. He'd laughed but never found it nearly as funny as she did. He didn't quite get British humor. However, he never had looked at rats quite the same way since.

"I can't believe you're playing that for him. I thought we were going to try for something more educational."

"This can be educational." He said. "Okay, it's a lot more cynical than I am, but it does scream Aunt Chloe, doesn't it?"

"I'll say." Lana said sourly.

"Besides, she gave Kara ideas. I already have a mix tape of GnR, Bon Jovi, and Van Halen ready to go for later. I'm afraid I'll have to put it on eventually because she'll hear if I don't and I need to sweet talk her into farm chores." He shrugged. "It's going to be eclectic."

As if to further underlie his point, the tape switched tracks and a new accented voice sang out over the headphones: " Every sperm is sacred./Every sperm is great./If a sperm is wasted,/  
>God gets quite irate."<p>

He blurred into superspeed to turn that song off. "Well that was just awkward really and kind of Catholic."

"Sullivan." Lana supplied. "That stuff's really low brow."

"It's still funny."

"Martha's right. It should be Mozart or Vivaldi or something."

"I don't even know who the second guy is." Clark added. "Besides, it's just a mix of things for the baby, you know? I thought that between the Flying Circus, Lois and Kara's lack of taste, and whatever cute Sesame Street thing my mom found, he'd hear a lot. Anyway," he said, pulling the headphones off of him. "The music isn't even the important part. The books say it's just really important to talk to them. They bond by hearing the parents' voices (technically the book had said mother, but it wasn't edited to be PC for Kryptonians so he'd let that slide)."

"Can he even hear?"

Clark nodded. "He's old enough. The ears are all formed and in working order. Besides, if he's anything like Kara and me, he can."

"I thought you didn't get your hearing until high school?"

"Technically, no, but I've always heard better than humans just like I see more clearly or can smell more acutely. It just got very exaggerated in junior year. I, uh, well I could always hear my mom's heartbeat if I concentrated hard enough."

She quirked her head at him. "Like with the baby?"

"Well, I never had to try with him. When I was really little, I had all these nightmares. I...well, I think some of it was more like memories, but I didn't know that at the time. I just started seeking out her heartbeat the first few months on the farm and I went for years where I couldn't go to sleep without hearing it."

"But you focus on him instead now?"

"Yeah." He said, smiling back at her. It faltered when he noticed the hurt reflecting in her eyes. "Lana?"

"The heartbeat thing really matters to you, doesn't it?"

"I...yeah." He admitted. "I was kind of scared and a little annoyed by it the first day or two, but I can't imagine not hearing it. It almost feels like I kind of need it." It was one of the things that made the ISIS check ups even more unbearable. As long as the Blue K was out, all his abilities were stripped from him. It was scary not to be able to hear his son when he wanted to, and the relief that flooded over him every time she shut that damn lead box was palpable.

"Can you hear mine like that?" She asked, intrigued.

"No," he replied honestly, wincing a little when her expression closed off. He hoped she never asked if he could do that with Chloe because he'd always sucked at lying. Worse, she'd always seen through him.

"Oh," She replied, sighing. "I...sometimes I wish it were me."

"With the powers?" He asked, trying very hard to shut out the memories of her time as a pseudo-Kryptonian. He hadn't enjoyed having her beat the ever-loving crap out of him. He'd also rarely felt more sick or been more scared than when he'd met Chloe at the hospital. At the time, she was in tears and waiting for the doctors' assessment of her still unconscious cousin. God, if his powers had killed her handicapped Lois, he never would have forgiven himself.

It was like with Eric. Even if he didn't have them or all of them at full strength, they still felt like his responsibility.

Lana'd abused that.

Clark let a hand stray over his stomach. He couldn't let the little one do anything like that. He had to learn to be as responsible as he and Kara were, as Raya had been.

And not like with Lana.

"No," she finally answered and his dour mood lifted a little knowing that she still wasn't envious of his gifts. "It's just, you're so connected to everything. I want to feel like that."

"But you are connected. I mean, I'm sure humans...um, other parents feel like that. I read in one of the books that the 'fathers' start feeling a lot of it at the hospital because then they get to see the baby and hold it."

"'Father,'" Lana replied, snorting. "This is beyond screwed up. I don't know why I ever thought-"

"Thought what?" He asked.

"Nevermind, Clark. I'm just being my usual over-worked self. I'm glad you're finding things to help bond with your...our son. I just...would it kill you to try a little Verdi or something?"

"Is that a color?"

"Nevermind. I'll have my team make up a selection of mp3's for you."

"You could always try the low tech approach," he offered.

"I don't need to record cassettes." Lana replied tiredly.

"No," he said, putting all the wires and other equipment on the floor beside his bed. "I mean, you could just lean over and talk to him. I've sort of gotten into a running commentary on the farm. I don't really think he appreciates all the boring tractor repair stories but those are definitely Kent family tradition."

"There are other family traditions."

"Huh?"

"I came home the other day and Kara was talking to you in Kryptonian."

"Uh, yeah. She was telling me a few of the more typical bedtime stories we had there. She got really into it with voices and everything. It's so weird to think she was doing that for me and, to her, it only feels like just last year that happened."

Lana's eyes narrowed. "I'll bet. Do you really think that's appropriate?"

"What?"

"The Kryptonian. You don't even speak it."

"Actually, I can."

"Oh, I only thought that-"

Clark sighed and steadied himself. "You only thought that he could do it. Yeah, well, I'm sure he got an earful at whatever trial they put him through before the Phantom Zone. No, I can speak it as well as I read it. I just don't unless Kara's making me practice, which she's picked up on lately."

"Still, I thought you didn't like Kryptonian things."

He sighed. "It's complicated. I hate Zod and Fine and I'm pretty pissed at and terrified of the Fortress. But Raya was good and I love Lara and Kara. It's part of me. I...it's not all of it, but it's some of it, and Kara's kind of here to remind me about all of that."

"I see. Still, I thought we agreed to keep things as not alien as possible."

Clark flinched at the word. He'd never cared for the connotation much and it was why he'd adopted the term intergalactic traveler in the first place. "It's not alien ," he replied tersely. "It's Kryptonian and that's me, kind of, and it's definitely Kara."

"And he shouldn't be brought up speaking an alien language."

"Kara's language," He corrected. He still considered English his native language. "Anyway, it's not like he'll pick it up or remember any of this beyond impressions. It's a good thing."

"Perhaps," She said neutrally.

Clark sighed and turned the light on his side of the bed off and then rolled over toward her. "Seriously, if you want, you can start talking to him. Kara and mom have already hopped on that bandwagon."

Lana looked down at his stomach, at the slightest addition of girth that he'd put on in the last month, and he swore it was the first time since this had all started that she'd even done that much. She leaned lower toward him and opened and closed her mouth in rapid succession before shaking her head and turning back to her own bedside table. "I can't."

"Oh, I see." He said, trying to keep the wounded tone out of his voice.

"I...it's just weird, Clark. I'll get used to it, just give me time."

"I'm giving you time. I've given you thirteen weeks."

"Excuse me?" She said, rolling back to face him. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Nothing."

"No, it doesn't mean 'nothing.' It means that you don't like how I'm handling things."

"It's not that exactly. It's just that you're so cold about everything."

"I am not. Just because I don't stare at you non-stop like Kara, or won't keep my hands off of you like Chloe, and you could try for some boundaries there."

"I...how'd you even know about that?"

"Kara's large mouth is legendary." Lana continued. "I can't believe you let Chloe keep her hand firmly planted on your stomach every time you visit her."

"I wouldn't say it like that."

"Kara described it that way."

"And she and mom get all excited about him too. You won't even look at me."

"Oh Jesus, don't be so melodramatic. I'm seriously considering having Schwartz reassess your hormone levels."

"Okay that's insulting. This isn't all in my head. It's been over three months and we barely kiss. You won't look at me below the chest. You won't touch me, and now you can't even talk to our child. What am I supposed to think?"

"I don't know what you mean."

He shook his head. "You certainly do. Do you even want him?"

"Clark, of course I want him. I wouldn't have set up ISIS the way I did if I hadn't. I wouldn't be always searching for better doctors for him if I didn't."

"I have six already." He said, his voice strained.

"I'm considering a physicist."

"Why the Hell would I need one of those?"

"We're starting strength testing for you. We should have done it to start with for baselines, but what you and Kara can do now we'll have to do."

He reeled back like she'd-okay not her, Fine-had slapped him. "Why do I need even more tests? Isn't the blood and the urine and the tissue samples and the, um, other stuff enough?"

"Schwartz is theorizing that the baby might start leeching some of your strength. You could get fatigued later in the pregnancy. If we don't start measuring now, we won't be able to detect any declines before it's too late."

"For what? Either that would happen or it wouldn't. Knowing that I can lift a grand piano one handed now and maybe not as easily in two months won't tell us anything. It's just an excuse for that shady creep to start testing more of my 'abnormalities.'"

"Oh, don't be so fucking sensitive. So Schwartz doesn't use the same euphemisms as your mother."

"Fuck bedside manner. How can I even related to him as my main doctor, if he thinks that everything I do is some kind of deformity?"

"He doesn't and this is a good thing to start with."

"Continue with. I get tests and tests and tests and I don't know if they're doing anything at all. I don't need ultrasounds and human medicine won't work on me, even with my powers stripped, my body chemistry is too different."

"Clark, we keep going over this. ISIS is-"

"Taking more and more of my life." He said calmly. "How long before Schwartz cons you into an ophthalmologist or an audiologist for testing our senses?"

"That might not be that bad an idea."

"It would be. My strength and my eyesight don't have anything to do with me being pregnant."

"They might. If we know more about how you work-"

He shook his head and leaned back against the headboard. "We're you even going to tell me about the seventh doctor? Was he just going to show up one day and start demanding that Kara and I perform like trained seals."

"I don't appreciate your metaphor."

"I don't appreciate being treated like a child in all of this. You need to keep me informed and actually consult with me before you do these things. I already have one strike, fuck all three, against me. Only Russell even listens and the rest decided after my bloodwork came back that I don't matter in this whole thing."

"It's not that bad."

"They only talk to you. They only look at you. They only listen to you because I'm not human." He finished, and his voice wavered on that last part. "You're my mouthpiece here. If I can get any of them to listen, it's because we've talked and you're helping me with them. We should be coming together and instead you're doing things behind my back."

"And when I go behind your back, it's to get better treatment. When you do it, it's to ex me out of all the motherly things."

He gripped his stomach and frowned at her. "Want to trade?"

"Not like that. I might be consulting with your doctors, the ones I'm paying for, by the way, but at least I'm not having some man groping all over me."

"Chloe's not groping anything. She's doing what you won't do! You don't get it at all. I know you're trying. But there's more to being the mom here than signing checks for the doctors and going over tests until early in the morning in Metropolis. I...you need to be on the farm more. God, I need you to look at me, to start doing the mom things for the baby. You need to talk to him or start trying to feel for the kicking, even if it is a few weeks away. Being supportive like that is so much more important than the medical stuff. I...did Lex just pay for things?"

"I can't believe you brought him up in our room."

"Me neither!" He shouted and the walls shook. "But I just did. I know Lex. Yeah, he's nuts and he's done more evil things than even I can keep track of, but he loved Julian more than anything. I know that he wanted a family very badly even if he was sick enough to make the whole thing up with hormone shots and shady doctors. But you tell me that all his dad stuff only included signing checks. Say it and I'll drop this."

"I...of course not. But he was playing me. He was playing me for months and he did all of it-the nursery, the stuffed animals and handmade toys, the brochures for elite preschools. Of course, he was doting and everything else, but it was an act, Clark."

"But it's what parents do. Why the Hell can't you just be more like my mom? Why can't you be happy that this is happening?"

"Why can't I be more like Chloe is what you mean? Of course, I'm happy. But I'm scared too. The baby could die and I already lost one, at least it felt like I did. I can't lose another so I'm doing everything for the both of you." She finished, her voice shrill.

He deflated a little at that. "I'm sorry." He said, reaching out and pulling her into his chest. He ignored the way she squirmed a little at the touch of his midsection. "I'm scared too."

"I know. I'll try and do better, Clark. I just...you have two mothers who love you, and a terrific father. Kara won't shut up about what Aunt Lara did when she was pregnant. Martha's the best mom there is and Jonathan was amazing. Nell wasn't like that and I barely remember my mom and dad. I'm doing the best she taught me."

Clark shivered at that. He had some suspicions that Nell came more from the Jor-El and Lionel Luthor school of parenting, not that she was abusive, but she had put so many unrealistic expectations on Lana.

She had a point.

Not everyone got to have the Kents as parents.

And yet, Chloe hadn't had a mother at all after she'd turned five, and she was so good at being an aunt.

No, wait, that wasn't fair. This was about Lana and trying to understand her and make everything work for the baby. Things could get better. He knew they could.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm sorry. I just...maybe you're right about the stupid hormone stuff. The physicist thing might not even be so bad. I have been feeling more tired lately."

Lana's change in demeanor was so fast it left him reeling. Picking her head up from his chest, she nodded briskly. "I'm glad you see my point, and I'll try to do better. We'll start tomorrow with the naming fun and, in a few weeks, when my schedule clears, we'll do a whole string of days just preparing the nursery out of your mom's old office, okay? I do want him, really."

"Really, really?"

"Of course." She said smiling and leaning back into him.

Clark let out a long sigh. He hadn't felt as relieved or free in months.

Lana did love both of them.

Clark closed his eyes and was just settling to sleep when one little phrase caught his sensitive ears.

Of course, I want a child. I just wish he were human.

He stilled at that, but didn't speak. Sometimes even his mom forgot about how acute his hearing was. Lana must not have been thinking under the stress and let the one thing slip he'd already been trying to deny. Of course, Lana Lang wanted a family. She'd been trying to put one together since he'd inadvertently killed her parents. She just hadn't wanted an alien one.

That hurt.

But he knew Lana loved him. She loved Clark Kent; it was just taking her more time than he'd have liked to get to love the Kal-El part.

It would come, he told himself as he tried to sleep.

He was just asking a lot from her. Not everyone was supposed to be thrilled with aliens. Really, only his mom and dad and Chloe had ever been okay with all of it. He just needed to give Lana more time and be more agreeable about everything.

He just needed to shut up and be glad that anyone would try loving him at all.

"Hey there!" Chloe chirped as she slipped into his room. She leaned down over him and he could feel her breath ruffling his t-shirt. "And how's the best nephew ever this morning? The Planet was a mess, little guy, but I figure by the time you get there, Uncle Perry will be in charge just like he's supposed to be."

"Chlo, stop pressuring my son. He can grow up to be anything he wants."

She shook her head dismissively. "Don't listen to your daddy. You want to be just like Nellie Blye and Bob Woodward, don't you?"

He sat up a little and rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to Aunt Chloe. You can be a plumber or a fireman or whatever you want."

Chloe considered that. "Huh? I hear plumbers make great money. I make crap."

"Chlo! Language!" He screeched. "Come on, no bullpen language here."

"But it will come in handy."

"No, it won't. Only bad people swear. Don't listen to Aunt Chloe or Aunt Lois ever." He said, sighing at her. "You're early. Lana's still at ISIS, Kara's shift doesn't end for forty more minutes and mom had to grab dinner at the farmer's market. It's just me."

"Well," Chloe replied, sitting down on Lana's side of the bed and, wasting no time, put a hand on his fledgling bump. "I finished a story in record time and high-tailed it here. I'm pretty excited and I can't wait to hear what genius ideas your cousin came up with. With her pop culture-rotted brain, I'm betting on Webster or John-Boy or something."

"Not funny." He said, yawning.

Chloe frowned. "Are you alright? You look really tired."

"I didn't sleep at all last night. I don't need sleep all that much, but I like it."

"I get that. I like it too even though I don't need it much either anymore," she replied nonchalantly. "I tell you, your planet really did a number on me."

He flinched. "It has that effect on everyone."

"Don't mope now. You know what I mean. My power still sucks, but I can't complain about the self-healing bit or the extra energy. If I didn't have to die to help people, I'd call it a complete win-win situation."

"I'm still sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be. Zod did it and I helped beat his sorry ass back twice now. I say I got my potshots in. Besides, the new, improved Immortal!Chloe is going to be around for a long time to babysit for the nephew-to-be-named-shortly."

"Thanks, Chlo." He replied and, damn it, he was sniffling when he answered. Stupid, stupid hormones.

Of course, he didn't think any guy's ego could survive finding out that his girlfriend didn't want him to be the father of her child.

"Clark?" She asked, leaning back against the headboard. "Are you sure everything's alright. Kara zipped by the Planet this morning to see Jimmy. She mentioned you hadn't done any, and I quote, 'cow things,' this morning."

"Yeah," he said, turning over to face away from her. "I didn't feel like chores today."

"You never not do chores. You're too George Washington for that."

"I...nevermind, Chlo." He replied, sitting back up in bed and finally looking down at her. "So, enough about me being a little down or whatever. What are you up for this afternoon?"

"Wow, and you still can't segue worth a damn, Clark. I'm not going to drop this and let you go back to mope #6 - the self-loathing variety."

"Yeah, well, I kind of got mired in it today. I know you. You often come with fun stuff. Tell me something interesting. Tell me you found Lex doing something evil, tell me Ollie needs a Boy Scout on deck. Hell, tell me about that new gossip reporter Lois already hates."

"Cat Grant?" Chloe snorted. "She won't be around long. She came down to the basement looking for some office supplies and almost mowed poor Jimmy down and then was a complete bitch about it."

"Wouldn't Lex give her a promotion for hurting Jimmy?"

"Egyptian interview aside, I don't think Lex cares about Jimmy one way or the other. I meant that Kara saw the whole thing. If I hadn't been there, Cat Grant would have been a crispy critter."

"Oh God. Tell me you're exaggerating."

"Only a little. Don't worry. Kara's responsible. It's just that Cat has that affect on everyone. She's going to get beaten to a pulp by Lois before the month's over."

"Well as long as it's not Kara inflicting the permanent damage." He replied, sighing. "God, I am not looking forward to explaining to the little one the rules of when to use heat vision."

"Not in sex ed class would be a start," Chloe quipped.

"I'm serious. What if I screw everything up and he ends up like another Zod or something?"

Chloe snorted. "Right. You and Kara are completely evil masterminds. That's why you use your infinite powers to fix the same stupid tractor on a daily basis and she slings mochas. And there was something else. What was that again? Oh yeah, saving the world on a semi-annual basis. Yeah, your kid is so going to be Darth Vader."

"Chlo!"

"I'm serious. You're practically a superhero and all your best friends are fine young gentlemen of the powered persuasion and one kick-ass reporter/impromptu healer. With his Uncles Ollie, Bart, Vic, and A.C. around and Aunt Kara and Chloe, I think he's going to understand everything about how to use your powers right." She shrugged. "Besides, if all else fails, we'll just sit him down in front of that one scene in Spiderman , and then Uncle Ben can do it."

"'With great power comes great responsibility,'" Clark repeated dutifully. "Man, Stan Lee sounds like my dad."

"Jonathan Kent was always right or mostly," Chloe corrected. "The baby's going to be fine. I mean, he might stack pickups or something for fun, but jockstraps earn that one."

"Uh, well."

"Seriously, why would you worry? Martha and Jonathan did a great job and they're not even Kryptonian."

"Huh?"

"Well, I meant, they only could reason with the superstrong four year old. You and Kara kind of have the upper hand physically."

"I don't go in for corporal punishment."

"Good thing for that; my dad doesn't either. The General on the other hand? Man, Lois cut off so many switches on the base."

"That's creepy."

Chloe shrugged. "That's Sam Lane. I don't think the authoritarian thing worked so well. But the point is, you and Kara know exactly what's going to happen, what powers he'd get and how to help teach them to him. It's going to be easier than it was for your mom."

"Maybe not."

She frowned. "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Nothing. I just...it's not just all me." He said, patting his stomach.

"You're worried about Lana's influence?" She asked.

"No, of course not. It's just that she's been so different since she came back from Shanghai and with the Lex-spying and the Casey Brock-abducting and the Lionel-torturing and blackmailing my doctors..."

"What?"

"Oh crap."

"Clark, she's what?"

"Dr. Schwartz might have an ethics violation on his record and I think Dr. Russell had a few gambling debts before they met Lana."

"Might have?"

"Okay, they do."

"She recruited criminals to work with my nephew?"

"No, not like that. It's just that I didn't expect her to blackmail them, either."

"Clark! Does Martha know?"

"And how. I've never heard my mom yell that much ever. She's furious, but she's more afraid to try terminating Schwartz's contract. If we make him angry or disgruntled now-"

"He can go straight to Lex who runs the best-paying alien investigations in town."

Clark nodded and gulped. "I'd be the star of Scion by sunset."

"Jesus, Clark. Why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed and threw up his hands. "There's not much I can do about it. I have to make the doctors happy and I have to hope that what Lana has holds or I really will be a lab rat."

"I knew we never should have gone to ISIS. That place feels like a feminine version of 33.1. God, where did Lana even find these people?"

He shuddered. "I don't know. I can't believe she didn't tell me about how she recruited them. I have no idea how she could expose our child to people like them." He pulled his knees up to his chest. "She's bringing in another doctor."

"I knew she would eventually. She's collecting them."

"It's a physicist this time. She told me last night that she'd already made the arrangements. He was going to be there to see me and Kara on Monday. If she hadn't let it slip, I wouldn't have known at all. She undercuts me all the time on this."

"Did you tell her no this time?"

"At first."

"Clark!"

"At first I did, but then she explained how they need to start measuring my strength in case it declines."

"It doesn't take a physicist to notice that. If you get weaker, you get weaker. They can't stop that."

"I know, but maybe it's good to get advanced warning. I honestly don't know anymore."

"She can't use this as an excuse to test you."

"She's not. She's just being cautious." He repeated by rote.

"You don't believe that." Chloe replied. "You're really worried about her."

"A little. Her doctors make me nervous, knowing what she did with my powers makes me even more nervous. I know she was angry and hurting and she just wanted to take it out on Lex. God, after everything at the dam, I understand that more than anybody."

"But you didn't kill him."

"I wanted to."

"But you didn't." She frowned. "You're worried that the baby will be like her."

"I love Lana." He said and he meant it. He'd loved her since he was five. She was still the most beautiful girl he knew, the only woman he'd ever made love to. She was the mother of his child. And yet, he didn't feel like he recognized her anymore. He couldn't relate to the cold, ruthless businesswoman she'd become.

He didn't want to relate to a person who'd blackmail people.

But he still loved her.

God, he was so messed up.

"But you're afraid that the baby, when he got old enough, would abuse his powers the way she did."

"I...that's stupid. She only had my powers for a day. It's a lot to get used to, having an ability, and she got about seven instantly."

"I have an ability."

"You can't kill anyone with yours."

"Just myself." She added bitterly.

"Chlo-" He said, wrapping her up in a hug. "Don't even talk like that. I swear, every time your heart stops, I can't even think. Those eighteen hours were the worst ones of my life-worse than being stuck in the Phantom Zone, worse than being tortured at Summerholt, even worse than being the scarecrow. The only thing worse than not hearing your heartbeat would be not hearing his."

"Clark," She cautioned, pulling back from him. "Boundaries."

"Why do people keep saying that? You're upset and I was trying to make you feel better."

"You're upset with Lana because you two had a fight, and I don't want you to do anything you'll regret."

"I'm going to regret hugging my best friend?"

"Clark, just relax. I'm fine. I don't think my power, or anything else, can kill me. I was just saying that there are a lot of people with powers, you and Kara come to mind, but so do Jordan and Maddie and Daniel Kim and quite a few of the underground meteor mutants I've profiled who don't hurt anyone. It's understandable if some of Lana's more depraved behavior this year scares you. A loose-moralled Kryptonian is not a good thing. But she can also be a very good person. She did stop Bizarro, and she helped us track down Kara and Lois."

He sat back down on the bed. "I know. I just worry sometimes. I love Lana, but she makes it so hard. I thought loving someone was supposed to be easier than this."

Chloe gave him a smile so tragic that it broke his heart. "Ask your mother. I think loving someone is the most difficult thing there is. Loving you the way I... she does...is so hard it's scary. She's sure of what she feels, I don't think it was ever a choice not to feel that way, but to love someone enough to die to protect them? There's no emotion more overwhelming or more consuming than that."

Clark could be dense. He was a guy after all, but he wasn't stupid. He could see through thinly veiled metaphors as easily as he did through skin. Besides, Chloe'd died not six months ago, saving his life. He knew she loved him and, by extension, was as smitten with his child as he was.

And like with the Gatorade incident senior year, he wished he could feel the same way about her. Sure he relied on her, and loved hanging out with her, and felt safe and protected and happy with her. But they were best friends.

He was supposed to feel all of that, wasn't he?

It didn't mean anything romantic.

He offered her a faint smile. "It's not hard to love you, you know."

"As a best friend." She said, easily issuing the disclaimer.

"Of course. I just...you never make me miserable. I think sometimes I bug you."

"Your mopes aren't cute." She replied, sitting back down on the foot of the bed, letting her hand slip almost of its own accord onto his stomach. "But I put up with it. I love you too, Clark. You know I never had a best friend before I came to Smallville?"

Clark's eyes widened. She'd never confided that to him. He assumed she'd been unpopular in Smallville because she was just too eclectic and big city for such a narrow minded little town. He always imagined her, with her fiery personality and gregarious nature, having a ton of friends back in Metropolis.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I was always too pushy with the journalism and I was always the weird girl investigating bigfoot or spaceships."

"Heh, well at least you were spot on with one of those things."

"Maybe I knew my E.T. was out there." She quipped.

"I'm not saving your geraniums, Rogue," He replied. "Besides, you have the resurrection market cornered."

She sighed. "And then there was my mom. St. Catherine's was a small school. Everyone knew she'd abandoned us. It was better coming here because then no one knew or everyone just assumed that was how city kids were, but you and Pete were my first good friends, outside of Lois, but she's family."

"Oh."

"Yeah. We're just really good at the loner thing."

His smile grew genuine and he placed one warm hand over hers. "But not now."

"Special partnership."

"Yeah," he said, sighing. He knew what she wanted. Hell, he'd known what she wanted ever since Ryan had told him back in freshman year. He wished he could give it to her. She'd been the best part of his life for years, especially over the summer when Lana'd been dead and his mom had been gone. She'd been his whole world then and the only person he'd really seen, except for Lois, who occasionally barged onto the farm while out jogging.

But he just couldn't.

So he offered her all he had. "Chlo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember when we were cleaning up after the most awkward dinner ever with Lana?"

"Boy do I."

"Well, you didn't seem all that thrilled to hear me call you family."

"I'm not family, really." She said breezily, "But I'm flattered you think of me like that. Outside of Lois and my dad, you're my favorite person."

"I know, but I lied."

"Oh," She said, trying to pull her hand back.

He held it steady. "No, you don't understand. What I meant was I don't think of you like I think of Kara. You're not my sister or anything."

"Okay."

"I...I don't have a word for what we are. I speak English and Kryptonian and I think the AI downloaded me with a few other random dialects that time in the Arctic."

"That's impressive."

"It's true. What I mean is that I don't know what we are, exactly. We're friends and we're family but we're something else entirely. It's just that I can't live without you."

She nodded and gulped. He could hear her heart racing almost as fast as his son's. He understood that. Chloe had never fared well with emotional intimacy. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm glad."

"Clark, thank you."

"You're welcome."

She smiled and patted his stomach. "So are you done angsting? Because you are seriously turning me into a girl here."

"Tell me about it." He said. "Mostly, I'm done."

"Ah-ha! So you are going to tell me what precipitated all of this."

"Maybe some day."

"That's healthy." She snarked. "However, if you are ready for a total dramafest interlude, I have a surprise." And with that, Chloe reached down and pulled out a large blue bag. "I've been holding onto this since you told me the sex. I was going to try and save it for the shower-"

"Oh, Chlo. I can't have one of those. Who'd come beside you and mom and Kara?"

She shrugged. "Well, Lana is going to start 'showing' in a week or two and you can just throw the party for her. Of course, if you want to go the honest route, I know that Uncle Oliver can throw an awesome party. Hell, he'd probably give the kid a Lamborghini at the shower."

"Rich people are nuts." He sighed. "I just as rather the bros didn't know. Bart will never let me live this one down."

"Anyway," She said, handing him the bag. "I thought he'd like this."

Clark grinned and ripped into the bag. He smiled when he pulled out the stuffed animal she'd bought for him. "I didn't know Holsteins came in powder blue."

"Isn't he nauseatingly cute? I saw him at the FAO Schwartz on 6th Avenue. There's a pink one too, but I had to get the blue cow for my nephew. Despite his unique heritage and gestation, I don't think you're quite ready to embrace the pink and metrosexual."

"I'm not." He said, sighing a little. "I'm not a girl."

"I never said you were, but I think the blue cow is still perfect for a Kent."

"Thanks." He said, standing up and opening his closet.

Chloe frowned. "What are you doing?"

"You're not the first person to have a stuffed animal ready for him." Clark replied.

"Someone beat me to it?"

"Kind of," Clark replied, yanking out the familiar red and yellow-spotted hippo and tossing it to her.

Chloe giggled. "This is the ugliest stuffed animal I've ever seen. Where'd you get it?"

He smiled sadly back at her. "I found this stuffed in the back of my closet sometime in the fall of junior year. I have no idea where he bought it since it's clearly not a Fordman's special, but dad got it for my little sister."

"Clark."

"I guess he forgot it was in here. I found it and knew it wasn't mine; it was way too new. I think he forgot he'd ever gotten it. It was still in the bag with all the tags on him and dad's credit card receipt. I didn't see the point in asking about it or bringing it up, so I just kept it. After he died, I couldn't bear to get rid of it."

"Well, he does go nicely with the blue. Kara's going to approve for the color scheme."

"I know. I like him. It's almost like dad gave it to me. I...he'd have been so mad about all of this, but I think he'd be excited like mom too. It's nice that everyone else is so thrilled-you and mom and Kara."

"Everyone else?"

"I...forget I said anything, Chlo. We'll just stick Harry-"

"Original."

"I try. And, um-"

"Norman," she supplied.

"Right. Then we'll stick them back in my closet until we get the nursery ready."

"Clark?" She asked, handing him back the plush critters. "'Everyone else' means Lana, doesn't it? She said something, didn't she?"

"No."

"You suck at lying about your feelings worse than you do about your powers. What did she say? If you don't tell me, I'll ask Kara. She eaves-drops."

"I can't."

"Clark, please." She said, letting her hand come to rest on his wrist.

"I...mom and dad really wanted me. I mean, they took on so much trouble with Lionel and with my grandfather to keep me. They wanted my little sister so much, Chlo. Kara keeps telling me how happy Lara was and I've seen it so I know it's true."

"I think I'm following."

"I..." he started, his voice falling to barely a whisper. "I don't think Lana wants him. I thought it was shock like with me the first few days, and then I thought it was because, technically and typical of my fucked up life, I'm kind of the mom in this deal instead of her."

Chloe squeezed his wrist. "You're not really."

"I...you know what I mean." He said. "But it's not it at all. I suspected but I hoped I was wrong."

Chloe closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. When she looked back at him, he was startled by the anger she saw there. It reminded him of her look when they'd stormed ISIS in the first place and found the Room of Lex Luthor. "What did she say?"

"She wasn't thinking. I guess she thought I was already asleep or something."

"What did she say?"

He sighed and concentrated on a point in the wall just over her shoulder. "She does want a baby. She said so. She just...well she wants him...she'd love him more if he were human ," Clark finished, spitting out the last word bitterly.

"I'm going to kill her."

"Chlo!"

"She should never even think things like that, let alone saying them. That's just cruel, Clark."

"She didn't mean it. I'm sure she didn't mean for me to hear it."

Chloe dropped his hand and started pacing a little. "It doesn't matter if she didn't mean to be overheard. It's a horrible thing to say about you and it's worse because the baby is hers as much as he's yours."

"I know, but, Chlo, she's right."

Chloe blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I can do a lot of things, more than anyone but Kara can, but I can't give her a normal family." He laughed bitterly and touched his stomach. "I can't even come close."

"She knew that when she started sleeping with you."

"I don't think she thought we could get pregnant. I guess that's why she wasn't so upset about forgetting her birth control in the first place. I know she loves me. She just wanted to adopt, I think."

"Love shouldn't be conditional like this, Clark."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I don't get a choice like other people do, Chlo. Lana's trying. She loves me. She's taking care of me and the baby the best she knows how. She's still here after four months. Chloe, you know I can't ever tell anyone else what I am. You saw how it ruined Pete's life and got my dad killed. If I ever have a shot of having a family, of being more than just the alien , this is the best one I've got."

"You can't seriously think that poorly of yourself."

"I'm a freak of nature, Chlo. There's nothing else like me on the planet. Not even Kara's as fucked up as I am and what she has with Jimmy can't last. He'll figure it out eventually and then he'll leave."

"He likes me. We're friends even though I'm a mutant. He might really love her." She countered reasonably.

"Maybe." He said. "Maybe not. Lana will have me as weird and inhuman as I am, and I have to make this work. I can't let it fall apart. I owe him better than that."

"How can you make it work if it was falling apart before you even got pregnant?"

"I can!" He shouted and the stupid curtains fluttered. "I can be better for her. I can be what she wants."

"You can't be human, Clark."

"I know that, but I can try and make her happy. If I make her happy enough, she'll love all of me. If I try harder, she'll love the baby. I'm sure things will get better once he's born."

"Clark, this is beyond irrational. I mean, this is like grand champion straw-grasping here."

"Cliche." He said, half-heartedly. "You owe me a stupid tea. I can make this work. Chlo, no one else would even try."

"I don't believe that."

"This is all I deserve."

"I definitely don't believe that."

"It doesn't matter what you believe. It's what I think that matters here. I just wasn't ready to hear it out loud. I've had time to think about it and I can make it better. I'll be fine."

"Clark-"

He shook his head and glanced at his watch. "Chlo, they'll be here in five minutes and I don't think Lana wants you in our room. Can we just go down and set the table for mom, please?" He didn't even wait for her answer before he blurred down the stairs.

He was already pulling out the silverware, when he heard Chloe finish securing Harry and Norman in his closet. His stupid hearing was getting as fucking acute as his nose these days. He was concentrating on just focusing in on his son's heartbeat when he heard Chloe's quiet sigh.

God, Clark, you don't even know how wrong you are.

He pushed it out of his mind and focused instead on the swishing rhythm that made him happy no matter what. Lana was the mom. She was all that mattered, he kept reminding himself as he set down the forks.

Besides, he didn't deserve someone like Chloe anyway.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Describing dinner as unpleasant was kind of like describing the Fortress as a little chilly. His mother was cheerful enough, quite the hostess, trading pleasantries with Lana and asking about how her latest bout of fundraising was going. Kara and Chloe hadn't said anything during the entire meal. Chloe was glaring at Lana as if she were the one with heat vision and his cousin had already crushed two forks in her grip and was working on mangling a third.

If he'd had any doubt that Kara had overheard Lana's remark, he didn't now.

"Heh, well I think we're all getting close to done." He said. "Hey Kara, do you want to help me-"

Just like that, all the dishes were gone and the kitchen counter was spotless. Well, he'd seen her do all the pick-up but mom, Chloe, and Lana had all blinked at how fast everything had been cleared.

"Alright then. That went well."

"More than happy to help, Kal-El." She said, glaring pointedly at Lana.

Oh man and the in-law situation was about to get really ugly.

"Kara, sit down." He said patiently.

"I'd love to." She replied in Kryptonian, while keeping her gaze focused on the other girl.

"Is something wrong, Kara?" She asked, her voice as sweet and sincere as it had been during their pancake breakfasts.

"No, everything is just fine." She said and then, adding again in Kryptonian. "I'm just pissed off that my nephew's half-lying bitch."

"Oh God." Clark said.

Lana narrowed her eyes at him. "What did she say?"

"You don't want to know."

"Oh, I want to tell her." Kara replied so that Lana, Chloe, and his mom could follow her. "How stupid are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I was speaking in English this time, keep up. How stupid are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Kara crossed her arms over her chest. "If I concentrate, I can hear Jimmy talking to Lois over a coffee break in the Planet's basement when I'm at The Talon. I can certainly hear you whisper through the pathetically thin walls of this old house, and Kal can hear you even better when it's his chest your pressed up against."

"What are you getting at."

Chloe exchanged a look with Kara and it occurred to him that they'd set this up together while he'd been helping his mom with dinner. "We know what you said about the baby."

"I don't." Martha said, and her irate tone scared him more than anything. "Clark, what are they talking about?"

"It's nothing mom, really."

"Oh, it's a whole lot of something." His cousin corrected. "Lana mentioned last night that she'd love the baby more if he were a hundred percent human, like that's so fucking great."

"Kara Kent! Don't swear at my table." His mom scolded. "But that's something worth hearing." She turned and glared at Lana. "Is that true?"

Lana was startling pale and it reminded him of how she'd looked when he'd shown up in the middle of her almost Parisian dinner with the Phantom. "I...no."

"I heard you, Lana. You and Kal were fighting and it was keeping me up and then you said it before you fell asleep. I don't know why you said that out loud. I don't even know how you could think it." And her voice was wavering. "Don't you like us?"

Clark shot a helpless glance at his mom who, with complete understanding, patted his cousin's shoulder. Kara had latched on to Lana very quickly as a surrogate big sister and was closer to her than she was with either Lois or Chloe. Of course, after the last few months of Lana never being delayed at ISIS and her comment last night, he had feeling that was no longer the case.

"Of course I like you." Lana said sweetly. The syrupy sweetness in her tone, made him nauseous in a way that had nothing to do with the morning sickness he no longer had.

"But you don't like the baby?" Kara asked.

"No, of course I love him. I...you took what I said out of context."

"There's a context that can make that xenophobic statement better?" Chloe asked bitterly.

"It's not xenophobic." She defended, taking his hand and he let her. He promised his mom he'd try and take care of himself and the baby, and he'd promised himself that he'd try and make things work with Lana. Chloe and Kara both frowned at him but kept their attention focused on Lana.

"Then what was it?" His mom prodded calmly.

"I just meant that it would be easier overall. I wouldn't have to worry as much if the baby was healthy or safe. If you'd been listening, Kara, you'd have heard both me and Clark worrying about all the complications. If we could go to a regular doctor, if this were with precedent, it would be less stressful. That's all I meant."

"I don't believe you." Kara said stiffly.

"You didn't phrase it that way." Chloe countered.

"Well maybe Clark remembered wrong."

"We never remember wrong."

"Then maybe you should just listen to me now. I love Clark and I love the baby and I'm doing the best I can for both of them."

"Right, with even more doctors to poke at him and me."

"Lana," his mom added wearily. "What does she mean?"

"I'm bringing in a physicist to help measure Clark and Kara's strength. I think the baby might make Clark weaker by the end of all of this. He's already sleeping more than he used to."

Which was true but still a relative term. He usually averaged about four hours a night and now he was up to six, which was still less than most humans. "She has a point," he offered meekly.

"I don't want any more tests." Kara replied. "I gave blood for six weeks. They got all the hormone levels they needed and I hate ISIS. It sucks there."

"But it could be helpful," She countered.

"It could be helpful until it gets to the point where neither of them are allowed to leave." Chloe replied. "We talked about this, Lana. I went by ISIS specifically after you hired the chemists."

"You did?" He asked.

"Of course, I have boundaries but I also have things that I believe shouldn't happen to my nephew."

"He's not your nephew," Lana said.

"Yes, he is." Clark countered, still holding her hand in his. "Chloe's my best friend and she's kept my secret for years. She gave Kara her identity, and I have no doubt she'll protect him just as fiercely. Stop saying she's not."

"Clark!"

"I mean it. Everyone at this table matters. We're it. This is all we have in the whole world because, frankly, that team of crooks you have working for you don't care at all about me or the baby. They're just thrilled to be working on an alien. Or maybe they're just thrilled not to be in jail."

"They're not as bad as you say."

"The AMA doesn't threaten to take away licenses for no reason." Chloe said.

"So are you all against me now?"

"No, we're not, but we're concerned and we have a right to be. Six people outside of the family know about Clark and Kara now and you've already briefed a seventh. The ones you've found aren't reliable and the only thing buying their silence is the offers you've made them. If someone makes a better one..." His mom said, trailing off.

Kara exchanged a nervous look with him. They knew what would happen to the both of them, if the information at ISIS was leaked.

"But somehow that's not the worst of it. Labs and everything else we can deal with. Arrow can fix a lot of things and I'd bet so could the Manhunter if it came to it." Chloe supplied. "But the way your behaving is unacceptable. If you have a problem with this family, if you have a problem with who Clark and Kara and the baby are, then you need to admit it."

"I don't."

"Then stop saying the things you do, and stop treating Clark like he's a fool or deformed."

He flinched. "I wouldn't say it like that, Chlo." Except, with the way Lana had been avoiding touching or looking at him, it very much did feel that way.

"I don't."

"It feels like it." Kara said, surprisingly quiet. "You're never home anymore, and you don't talk to the baby or spend time with Kal like you used to."

"I see both of you all the time."

"In the lab," his mother reminded her. "That's not the same."

"You two don't even do it like bunnies anymore."

Everyone at the table turned to gape at his cousin. Well, almost everyone. Lana looked like she was constipated and his mother looked horrified. Chloe looked like she was fighting very hard not to erupt into a fit of giggles. Well, she had Lois. She was more used to blunt than the rest of them.

"Excuse me?" Lana asked.

"I used to hear you two all the time. It was loud and annoying and kind of scarring because, frankly, Kal's kind of ugly. No offense."

"Um, none taken?"

"It's just that he's all broad-shouldered and athletic and boring. On Krypton, we used to go for the intellectual thing. Nothing says hot like pasty and scrawny."

Huh, that explained a lot about her attraction to Jimmy. Plus, he was really glad his cousin had never thought about him like that. Of course, he wasn't that bad looking. He was certainly better looking than Jimmy Freaking Olsen, even if Chloe apparently liked him too (or had).

"Kara? There's a point here?" He asked.

"Oh Rao yes. You're being a bitch, Lana. So get the Hell over it."

"Kara, that was rude," His mother replied.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent. I didn't like having her tell me what to do either."

"Oh, I'm not objecting to her opinion. I'm just objecting to her language. Lana, I'm trying, but you have to do better. I can't say I'm very happy with the way you've been treating either my son or grandson. The doctors are bad enough, but the avoidance is unforgivable. This is the time they both need you around home the most."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder." Chloe said tersely.

"So I can be more like you?" Lana asked pointedly and Clark swore he felt the temperature in the room drop by twenty degrees.

Chloe, did not rise to the bait. "So you can be the mother you're supposed to be. If I make you so uncomfortable, then maybe you should ask yourself why he's coming to me or to Kara in the first place."

"You're thrilled he's coming to you."

"Well, I do enjoy a nice tuna on rye shared with his stupid ham sandwiches in the basement. I want him to be able to go to you." She said. "They both deserve for the mother in this deal to be more involved than she currently is."

"I...Chlo," He floundered.

"I promised I'd try. I told him that last night. We're doing better." She replied, squeezing his hand. "Aren't we, Clark?"

God, he was so glad he was having a boy. There were just too many really scary women in his life right now. Sighing, he responded to his cue. "Chlo, I told you that I'm going to try harder. It's fine."

"It's not." His mother said calmly. "Lana, I've known you since before I ever met Clark. I've always liked you and I'm glad you've made Clark happy," her hesitation over that last word didn't escape his or Kara's sharp notice, "and, despite the circumstances, I'm glad you've given me a grandson, but everything's conditional."

"Excuse me?"

"Membership in this family is conditional. Not for Clark and Kara, because they'd have to kill me before I ever let either of them go, but it's conditional for everyone else. If you can't secret keep, if you can't support them, you can't stay. I'd like to get to the naming, if we could, but we'll be talking later. I have things to say to you that I don't want the girls and Clark overhearing."

"Mrs. Kent-"

"No, Lana, we'll do this later, and I'm sure you'll understand my points when I bring them up." She replied, sighing and trying to smile. "Lana, I'm sorry if that came out as harsh. Chloe and Kara mean well, they're just not as delicate as we can be."

"Oh, I'll show her delicate." Kara said.

"Chill out, Supergirl," Chloe replied. "It's fine. Sometimes families argue. Even Lois and I butt heads. It happens. We're not holding grudges here. Lana. We're all trying to make this work for the baby, but I can't tolerate you upsetting Clark either."

"He wasn't upset."

"Yeah, I'm totally fine, honest." He replied, ignoring the sad, bright green eyes boring into him. "Chlo, it's all a big misunderstanding and I'm overly sensitive right now anyway."

"I don't like being put down for not being human, either, and I'm not even pregnant." Kara countered.

Clark sighed and, standing up, walked over to the window sill and pulled the cooling pies off of it and onto the counter. He cut the apple into several slices and laid them out on plates. "If anyone wants any-"

"I'm fine." Lana said.

"I'm not feeling very hungry right now, sweetie." His mom replied.

Kara was already seated back at the table with her slice. "I'm good, Kal."

"Chlo?"

Chloe eyed Lana for a second and then glanced down at her lap. Through the table, Clark could make out her pinching her thigh. "I shouldn't."

"You like pie."

"Are you having yours?"

And Chloe meant that literally. The whole cherry pie was for him.

"Oh jeez."

"I'll have my slice if you have all of yours."

He rolled his eyes. "Lois is going to have no problem noticing the weight gain even with a sweatshirt if I keep having pies." He groaned a little, but still carried his tin and her slice back to the table with him.

Chloe shrugged and bit into her slice. "Meh, it's winter soon. God bless sweaters."

"Sympathy eating," he replied. "Cool."

"Quite." Lana said. "So, I have to admit that I'm just dying to see what you all have come up with."

"You have names don't you?" Kara asked.

"Of course, I have one I've become very attached to. I just wanted to hear what you all were thinking about."

"Okay then." Kara said. "I like Kon-El. It's a family name from our great grandfather. He was one of the most respected council members of his age."

"Council member?" Clark asked, confused.

"'House of...' is a title, Kal. We're a council family. I thought you new that."

"Kind of, but I was fuzzy on the details."

"Well it's like with Aunt Martha now being a senator, but it's even more highly respected."

Lana leaned forward. "Like royalty?"

"Not exactly, just well-respected and powerful. It wasn't inherited, but it's kind of like being a Kennedy here. Once you had the name and the clout...your family kind of stayed powerful."

"Wow."

Clark narrowed his eyes. He'd rarely seen Lana more interested in Kryptonian things. "Heh, well here I just muck out horse stalls."

"Double yuck." Kara replied. "It's a good name. Lara brought it up once, but I liked Kal so much better, like our sun."

"Oh." He wasn't feeling very articulate at the moment.

"We can't give him a Kryptonian name." Lana countered.

"Not that shit again. Didn't we just go over the non-xenophobia thing?"

"It's not what I meant, Kara. We can't put a name that unusual on a birth certificate."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know that, but just because it's not on some document somewhere, won't make it any less of his name. I mean, Kal's name isn't written down anywhere either, but it's still his."

Clark blushed at that. "I...my name's Clark."

"But you let me call you the real one." Kara countered and then frowned at his mother. "No offense. I mean, Clark's a nice name and you did a good job picking it out. It's just that he's been Kal to me since he was younger than the little one is now."

His mother smiled at her. "I understand, Kara. I think it's a nice gesture, Clark. I'm sure that Lara would have approved."

Clark smiled at her. He wanted very much to hug her then. He knew it couldn't be easy for his mother to bring up his birth one. She'd been so supportive of him trying to learn about Lara through Kara and even way back in the loft after Summerholt. But, as much as he loved Lara, and as grateful as he was to her for saving his life, he loved his real mother so much more.

He hoped she never forgot that.

"Thanks mom. That means a lot. I like the name, Kara. You know, the Fortress sucks."

"No really? I thought I was the only one who hated freezing to death." Chloe quipped.

"Or getting mind-raped." Kara added.

"Or power stripped." He finished. "Right. So we all hate the Fortress and the AI, but you're here and I met Lara, mostly, and I think it's important that we make part of his name Kryptonian. I...it seems right."

Lana nodded, but he could feel her hand stiffen in his grasp. "Of course, but we can't call him 'Kon.'"

"I call Clark, 'Kal.'" Kara countered. "It sounds like a human name and so does 'Kara.'"

"But he needs a real name."

"Real?" Chloe countered.

"Legal, you know what I mean."

"Then why not just give him a name that can be shortened to be Kon, something that can bleed easily into that as a nickname?" His mom asked.

"What?"

Chloe's eyes twinkled. "I've got it."

"Got what?"

"The name, dooofus," she said. "But you have to eat more before I tell you. You've barely touched anything."

"Fine," he said and slipping into superspeed, finished up half the pie. "Are you happy now?"

"Much more so. Okay, ready for the Sullivan brilliance?"

"And modesty," Kara quipped.

"That too." She said. "How about 'Connor?'"

"Connor?"

She nodded. "Connor. You could call him 'Kon' and no one would ever know the difference. Besides, it's a nice, stalwart Irish name. Every kid should be so lucky."

Clark chuckled for what felt like the first time in a week. He couldn't help smiling back at her. "I like that."

"Yeah, that's perfect, Chloe. No one would ever know. Plus it has that whole alliteration thing that Kal, Lana, and I are so good at anyway." Kara replied.

"Connor Kent," his mom repeated. "That's lovely."

"Lana?" He asked hesitantly. He couldn't imagine that after having Chloe find out about the baby and his sex first, that Lana would be happy to have her offering up a name. But it did mesh well with Kara's and his cousin had named him too. He felt like she was pretty good at it.

Lana offered him a tight smile. "I think that's nice. I also think it will fit well with the name I've been considering."

"Which is?"

"I want his middle name to be 'Joseph.'"

His mother frowned at that and he knew why. She was trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar. It should sound familiar, she'd heard at Lana and Lex's wedding. Chloe, who'd been keeping files on Alexander Joseph Luthor since she got to Smallville knew exactly where the name had come from.

"Excuse me?" Chloe huffed.

"I said Joseph."

"Connor Joseph Kent," Kara said speculatively. "I like that, plus he'd have your initials, Kal."

"I...well that's one way of putting it," he said.

"It has a nice ring to it," his mother said noncommittally. "But there's something familiar about it that I don't quite like."

"I can tell you what's familiar about it." Chloe said angrily and Lana was so lucky that the other girl didn't have heat vision.

"Chlo, don't."

"Why the Hell not?"

"I..." he hesitated and then he felt it. Lana had slipped her hand out from his grasp and placed it firmly on his stomach. It was the first time she'd ever reached out for their son. Maybe the talks had gotten to her. Lithe fingers stroked over the slight bulge he'd been cultivating.

"Clark, I think it's a great name. If Chloe and Kara can pick out a name, certainly I should be allowed to. I'm the mom, aren't I?" As she said that, she drove home her point home by pressing a little against his midsection, against the child that should be in her body.

When she said it that way, it would have been really selfish of him to deny her this. Besides, she was really trying.

"I think it's a great name." He choked out, feeling slightly nauseous at the thought of naming his kid in part after Lex.

"Clark!" Chloe said, her eyes blazing.

"Clark," Lana echoed, her voice sweet and gentle and her warm palm flush against his midsection. "You really mean it?"

"I...of course," he replied and then she smiled more happily than she had since he'd told her he was pregnant.

"Connor Joseph Kent," Kara repeated. "I really like it."

"I don't." Chloe snarked.

"Well, Connor's not yours , Chloe." Lana replied tartly. "You know, it's been a long day and I think I'd like to get some sleep." She emphasized her point by letting her hand slip lower to something that was definitely not his stomach but that she'd touched even less in the last two months.

Clark blushed and stood up. "I, uh, good point. Mom, can we go?"

"Sure honey."

It was all it took for him to speed her up to their room.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Clark sighed and leaned back against the loft sofa. His mom had gone to ISIS to meet with Lana and have that "talk," she promised her. He'd pointedly been not invited. He couldn't see his mother screaming full out at Lana, but she could be really scary when she wanted to be. Usually, his mom was restrained and completely business-minded. However, he'd also rarely seen her more angry than she'd been at dinner two nights ago.

"I wonder what mommy and grandma are talking about." He said tiredly, rubbing at his stomach.

He could hear it with a little concentration if he wanted. It would be rude as Hell, and he really tried not to use his powers to violate peoples' privacy, but they were the ones talking behind his back. Not that it was a malicious thing. It was just that he assumed his mother didn't want him to hear how ugly it was probably going to get.

"You know," He added conversationally. "I'm really tired of people doing things behind my back. I know your mommy means well, but I kind of miss being treated like I have a brain." He paused and considered his option. "Just this once, I think I can make an exception, but don't let this give you ideas. We're not supposed to spy on people."

Clark closed his eyes and perked up his ears. He started by focusing in on his mother's heartbeat and from there, with a little effort, he was able to find her voice in the din that was downtown Metropolis.

No more specialists, Lana. I mean it. You don't get to just pull some name out of a file and tell them everything about my son.

My son's involved in all of this too, in case you'd forgotten.

Oh, I most certainly haven't and every so-called team member you add expands the danger to all three of them-Kara's in this too-exponentially.

They are competent professionals.

They're being extorted to be here. You're a child, Lana. You might have the money and you might have had the impromptu tutoring at Lex and Lionel's knee, but you don't know how these games are won.

Clark's eyes popped open. He knew his mother had clerked for his grandfather before she'd left law school. He also knew that, over the years, William Clark had represented some of the corporately evil and clearly guilty. It had just never occurred to him that his mom had ever been that deep into corporate intrigue and track covering.

Of course, considering how expertly she'd hidden him for two decades, he shouldn't have been that surprised.

And how are they won? , Lana asked coolly.

They're won by never being played in the first place. You can't earn loyalty or trust by manipulating it out of people. You certainly can't get it by extortion. You do understand that at the first better offer, that the first time Schwartz or Meyers or whoever else can find a way to get out from under you, they'll take it, don't you.

I have it under control, Martha.

No, you don't. I don't know what to do with whom you've collected. If Clark had come to me first, had called me about Kara's news, I'd have told him never to go to ISIS. I'd have told him not to go to anyone. As little as we know about him and how this is supposed to work, being in the dark is preferable to the mess you two have made.

And you call it a mess but let in continue.

I'm more afraid of cutting them loose. I've been consulting with the resources I do have. Not Lionel because, honestly, I don't know where he ends and Jor-El's influence begins and you're both right. Neither Clark nor Connor can be left in the Fortress's care. But I've talked with the Arrow-

Clark gulped. Oh god, he hoped she hadn't told Oliver exactly why she needed to keep a team of shady doctors quiet. He really couldn't live down the embarrassment of having the Bros know he was, well, a little less than a full bro himself.

...and he's a vigilante.

Who has connections and schemes in place to rival Lex's. If things go south for us, he might be the only chance we have to silence the defectors. I'd go to J'onn. Lord knows I've missed his company over the last few months.

He visits you?

He loves Oreos and I like baking dessert. Also, he has the most fascinating stories and perspective on world politics. That's not the point. Chloe and I have cut off the contact we have with the Manhunter, as much as we could outside of Fine, because he can't be allowed to know either. But we don't have the resources we could.

That's why I've built up ISIS the way I have. I've explained this ad nauseum to Clark and Kara.

Yet, you turned around behind all our backs and hired yet another doctor.

They needed it.

What are you going to do with all this research, Lana? You have blood and DNA and tissue analyses from two travelers and from a child unlike any other. What's the point of all of it?

To keep them healthy.

It goes deeper than that. ISIS goes deeper than that, doesn't it. You've had it running for the better part of the year and you still keep it grass roots. What are you hiding.

Nothing! It's just that if we know more we can stop it.

Stop what?

Stop anything bad from happening. I don't know. God, if we'd had advanced warning the day of the first shower, so many people could have lived. My parents could have lived. If the EPA had taken the meteor rocks seriously, maybe we wouldn't have a town full of dangerous, psychotic mutants.

Clark flinched and, without thinking about it, leaned a little lower to whisper to Connor. "Aunt Chloe's not like that at all. She's the best person I know. Don't listen to mommy about the rocks, except for the part where they make me sick." He wasn't really sure what they'd do to Connor, if anything. Maybe being half-human would keep him from getting as sick as Clark always had around them.

There aren't always answers, Lana, and sometimes searching for them makes things worse. Fine used Lex to get what he wanted by promising him just enough information, and if Lex hadn't been experimenting on what was left of the ship, that thing wouldn't be out there giving J'onn a chase and looming as a threat to Clark and Kara and the rest of us.

But if I know enough, I can change things.

How? You just think he might get sick. You don't know it.

He's more tired than he should be.

Are you that surprised. It's part of being pregnant or flooded with hormones. You may have been the latter, but you felt it to. Whatever's happening was, technically, something his body was designed to do. Not here and not with the added powers, but it was something his people accounted for. Adding a few doctors who still can't understand him and Connor fully, won't change that. Sometimes, Lana, you can't control anything and it's a fool's errand to try.

He's already agreed to the physicals.

He's afraid to refuse you anything. Chloe told me as much, but I don't need insider information. I have eyes and I know my son better than anyone.

I'm not following you.

You're blackmailing him. I don't even know if you realize you're doing it. It's clearly become an inherent part of your nature. He's terrified that you're going to leave him. And, as much as he loves you, that's not even the scariest part for him.

What is then?

He wants Connor to have a mother, and he's terrified of scaring you off and losing that for his son. You know the world I came from. It was a different society thirty years ago, but there was divorce even then in high society. There were affairs and mistresses and power couples who stayed together only for the tax benefits. Somehow, I imagine that the world he was born into wasn't all that much different.

So?

The point is that that's Metropolis. That's the world of the Clarks and the Luthors and the world your aunt finally managed to maneuver herself into to a degree, but that's not Clark. He's everything that my husband raised him to be. He's Smallville through and through and Jonathan's values, Hiram's values, are his. And on Kent Farm, you don't divorce, you don't leave. There's a family and it's a mother and a father and the child, just like it's been for generations. He's in that rut because he believes that's what Jonathan would have wanted.

And he wouldn't?

Oh, he would have. We've both tried to impress upon Clark the sanctity of marriage, although, we seem to have failed in conveying the message about premarital sex. If Jonathan were here, you'd have been married by now.

Clark hasn't proposed. Lana replied, nonplussed.

He's not going to any time soon.

How can you know that?

I told him not to. He thinks that the baby makes the marriage real, the relationship solid, and he's wrong. It does the opposite.

Clark recoiled at that. Surely that didn't mean that his parents had been miserable or strained or upset because of him?

I don't see how, Lana replied.

Jonathan and I were married for three years before we tried for a child, and I was pregnant three times. That's three times of doctors' appointments and ultrasounds that never came to fruition. I miscarried every single time and the last time...well I wasn't supposed to be able to conceive after that. And every time we lost a child...I spent a lot of time in Metropolis in those awful years. There was stress and fights and frustration and a million things in between like there are now, but we weathered it because we loved and trusted each other.

I love Clark.

I know you say that.

I mean it.

Do you love Kal-El?

His heart sped up just as he noticed Lana's had. His mother had never once in his entire life, at least since Dr. Swann had revealed it, used his other name. Kal-El belonged to Lara and to Jor-El and, in part to Kara. Clark was hers and that's the way he'd always thought of it. Not that she was ashamed of his gifts, she wasn't. It was just that he tried to be his most human for her. He felt the most normal and loved and human with her.

It was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

Excuse me?

Do you love Kal-El, the now not-quite last son of Krypton? I love Clark more than anything and part of that, as painful as it is, especially when the ship tried to take him from us, is admitting that there's a whole side to him that's Kryptonian. There's a world and a culture and a people he belongs to that we don't. There a dozen things he can do that we can't. And there are things he feels that we couldn't begin to understand, and I'm not talking about because his perception his different or because his senses are more acute.

Then what are you talking about?

His loneliness. He's profoundly lonely. It's been better with Chloe and now you and, especially, with Kara and Connor. He's not the only one, but he's so very different, and he feels that every day, and he always will. I was the one who had to explain to him when he was five why he couldn't go to kindergarten or why when he was six he couldn't go to the only birthday party he was invited to all year. I'm the one who tried to comfort him through high school when he thought that no woman could love him.

But you were wrong.

Was I? If you can't love all of him, then you aren't welcome in my family. He's so desperate to keep you, that he'll do anything you ask. He'll ignore the million slights you've brought on him. He'll let you keep taking from him.

I haven't taken anything.

When's the last time he had two days solid outside of a lab?

I...that's not important.

It's crucial. If Lex were doing these things...god, have you any idea how awful it would be?

Lex Lana replied and her voice was oddly strained when she said his name, has nothing to do with any of this.

No, but his father and I were terrified that he'd end up in a lab, which just never thought that it would take several months of indiscretion with you to do it. Wide doe eyes and a trembling lip are all it's taken to get him to do what he's had nightmares about since he was little. It was enough to get him to beg Kara into it. I know the tests are physically painful, but they're scary for both of them. They're invasive and degrading and why are you doing that to people you love?

Because it has to be done. We're halfway there and we need to keep them both safe.

Maybe, maybe not. I'm more afraid of cutting the doctors loose at this point, without a contingency plan in place, than I am of what they can do to him in the next few weeks. I'm not a fool. I know we can't spite them, but this can't continue either. You can't keep bringing in more specialists and you absolutely can't hold him hostage.

That's a little extreme.

Emotionally, that's exactly what you're doing. My family is conditional. I won't have anyone in it whom I can't trust, and I won't have you at my table or under my roof if you keep insulting him to his face.

I didn't mean it!

Perhaps, but you're going to have to prove to me that you didn't. My point is that while my family might be conditional, the one he has is not.

I don't see the difference.

The difference is that we-Chloe, Kara, and I-all love him no matter what. Four months ago he found out he could bear children.

I'm aware.

It's another thing he can do that no other human man could, and none of us care. If he woke up tomorrow covered in scales or with a tail or six eyes, we wouldn't care. Do you understand that?

Clark groaned. "Oh great, now grandma's giving the universe ideas." He sighed. "Don't worry, Kon. I'm like 97% sure we're not going to wake up looking like Klingons anytime soon."

Of course.

Can you say that same, Lana?

I...I want to be able to say that.

Clark felt something tighten in his chest and, for the first time since the gatorade incident, he couldn't breathe. If felt just as he had getting slammed repeatedly at football practice.

God, it hurt.

That's not good enough.

Don't push me out. They're the only family I have now and I want to love them.

Then do it. I don't want to push you away from Connor, but it is so much better for him and Clark if you give up if you can't find it in yourself to love Kryptonians. Because, you can't put conditions on Clark and Connor. That's not love. That's being selfish.

Aunt Nell put conditions on me.

And do you love her?

I'm grateful to her.

It's not the same. You resent her. If you do the same to Connor, he will grow up to resent you as much, and it will ruin him. You've already gotten half way with my son.

I haven't.

He's been miserable for months.

He's pregnant and hormonal and sick.

He's being strung along.

Mrs. Kent, Martha, I can do better. Don't take my family away from me.

Clark shuddered a little. That statement didn't sound like begging. It almost sounded like a threat.

But no.

That wasn't right.

He was just...oh fuck, he didn't know what he was anymore.

Then do what Chloe said and start acting like the mother.

Chloe has no place in any of this.

Two things, Lana . His mother said, her tone reaching a chill that his home planet had probably never rivaled. Clark only has one friend in the world. Just one whom he can truly trust and confide in and who has never abandoned him. I went to the Planet a week after Jonathan's death and welcomed her with open arms into my family and I have never regretted it. When you 'took a break' with him during the worst month of his life, she was there. When you were sleeping in another man's bed, she was there. When you faked your death and left him reeling, she was there. And she is going to stay here because she's proven over and over again that she belongs in this family. She's as much Connor's family as Kara or I am and that's the way it's going to be.

She's in love with him.

Clark gaped. He knew how she felt, had seen the naked truth of it over the years, had wished more than once-a lot more, actually-that he could return her feelings. But then there'd been Jimmy and they'd dated, and now she was spending more time working for Ollie and the boys. She'd had a chance with him after the Phantom Zone. He'd always assumed she'd moved on then, because he'd rarely been more devastated than when she marched off to get Cheetos with Jimmy Freaking Olsen.

It had stung almost as bad as stumbling in on Lana and Lex kissing.

Chloe, he thought ruefully, as he ran a hand over his stomach, could do so much better than him. Hell, she could have a billionaire at her beck and call if she tried hard enough. He knew Ollie fell hard for sarcastic reporters. Bart flirted with her every chance he got, and Victor shared that deep computer knowledge with her that eluded him.

Any of them could make her happy.

And Oliver was completely normal.

"I...mommy's wrong, Kon. Aunt Chloe doesn't love me like that. Aunt Chloe and I are just best friends, which is really good for you, because in a decade or thirteen, she'll still be around to hang out with us."

Perking up his ears again, he could hear his mother's sigh.

Chloe isn't trying to take him from you, Lana. You're being petty and selfish and paranoid. If you really love my son, then you'll be kind enough to let him have his one friend in his life. If you really trusted him, then you'd have faith that he loves you more than he loves her.

She's still in love with him.

Maybe she still is and maybe she isn't, but there's no doubt in anyone's mind, including Lois who only knows a tenth of all of this, that Chloe does love him. She shows it to him every day. You haven't.

Are we done? I don't need any sanctimonious preaching from you.

It would behoove you to flatter your mother-in-law, his mom replied, dryly. No, there is one more very important thing. I don't have X-ray vision, but I'm not blind either. I saw what you did with him at the table. The way he sped away with you, Lionel Luthor while he was blind, could have seen it. As surely as I'm standing here that is the absolute last time you use sex to manipulate him. You do it again and, I swear to God, I'll take all the evidence Lionel has on you for kidnapping and torturing him and I will turn it over to the Metropolis D.A. myself.

Why didn't he?

Because he's mellowed in his old age and because, like the rest of us, he's dedicated to Clark. Yes, it's twisted and it's Jor-El's hand in all of it, but it's changed Lionel and his feelings nevertheless. We tolerate you because you're supposed to make Clark happy. But you're not doing that at all. If you take advantage of my son again, I will have you locked away for the rest of your life, Lana. Don't think I can't. The D.A. is a very old friend of mine from law school and I can make it happen. You want to play games? Well, you've just met the grand master.

I wasn't using sex-

You were , but that's not the worst offense. I saw how you grabbed his stomach. Don't you ever pretend to have feelings for Connor that aren't there. Don't you dare use your unborn child like that.

He's my child.

The rest of that sentence better not end in "I'll use him however I want." His mother warned.

It doesn't. I love Clark and I love Connor, and I don't know how to make it more clear to any of you.

Then start acting like it. And Clark could hear his mother's heels clacking on the polished floor of Lana's office as she turned to leave.

Martha?

What?

The physicist already knows everything. He's been contracted and paid and he's coming on Monday. I want to do the strength testing for both of them because I still want to try and know if or when Clark starts getting weaker. May we?

That's Clark and Kara's call.

He said yes.

Then I suggest you talk to Kara, but I'd do it over the phone. I don't think it's wise for you two to be in the same room together right now. She's known Clark longer than any of us; she pledged to keep him safe first, and it's her family and her people you've insulted.

You're saying?

You have a lot to make up for. Good day, Lana.

"Well, at least mommy and grandma didn't kill each other." Clark said, stroking at his t-shirt.

"But Aunt Martha totally came close." Kara replied, poking her head up from the top of the stairs.

"Kara?"

"Pfft, like I never eaves-drop, Kal." She said, walking over to him and settling next to him on the old sofa. "Aunt Martha's more generous than I am. I don't want that bitch in my house."

"Kara, please. She's Kon's mother."

She snorted. "Humans have this saying-"

"Do we...they now?"

"Totally. I mean, any old guy can donate some sperm, right?"

Clark squirmed. "I never ever want to hear those words out of your mouth again, Kara."

"Whatever. Anyway, just because I guy contributes some DNA doesn't make him the dad."

Clark sighed. He'd had a very similar conversation with Maddie years ago. He'd never put all that much stock before in genetics. He wasn't anymore related to his mom and dad than he was to a cactus or a lemur or a starfish, but he'd always thought of the Kents as his real parents.

"I understand that, Kara."

"She's like the chick who just gave an egg."

"She's Kon's mom."

"She doesn't act like it."

"She wants to. You heard that part too. She wants to try."

Kara snorted. "Way she talks about Kon almost like he's her property."

Clark's grip tightened. "She doesn't. She loves us. It's just complicated."

"Kal-"

"Kara, can't you just try for me, please? This matters to me."

"I know."

"Will you come with me to ISIS on Monday?"

"Kal!"

"I...she's right. I'm more tired than I should be. This could be important. I know you've done so much already. I... please."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Does ISIS scare you as badly as it does me?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "You're scared of something?"

"I try not to let it show. That place makes me nervous and I don't like you going there alone. I wouldn't leave either of my baby cousins to that. I'll go with you, but not because she wants me to, but because I can't leave you."

"Thank you, Kara."

"But I'm not being nice to her anymore."

"You don't have to do that."

"And I reserve the right to flash fry here."

"I veto that. We can't set a bad example for Kon."

Kara smirked and squinted at his stomach. "You know, he looks a lot less tadpole-y now."

"Very funny."

"I'll be good." She replied, leaning over to whisper to Kon. "You know, Kon, your mommy's a real bitch and I'm not holding the whole half-human thing against you at all."

"Kara!"

"What? He'll learn Kryptonian better if I speak it to him."

He rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. I speak enough to know when you just cursed in front of him. Can you lay off the b-word for a while?"

"Can I say it with Chloe and on my own and as a mantra?"

"Uh, sure."

"Can I say it to Lana's face?"

"I'd prefer if you wouldn't."

"Well I have to vent my anger somehow or she'd end up a crispy critter."

"Okay, well, try and be polite."

"Oh, Kal," she replied. "That's second nature to me."

"Yeah right."

Nineteen Weeks

"Are you ready yet, not-so-little-cousin?" Kara taunted, looking down at his stomach.

Clark sighed. The supergross and completely awful tasting shakes and the nonstop cherry pie his mother had been forcing down his throat had even conquered his Kryptonian metabolism. He'd gained twenty-five pounds since everything had started, and it was almost all settled firmly in the visible bump on his stomach.

It was now big enough to be obvious, but still not so large that someone wouldn't write it off as a beer gut. In a month or six weeks, he'd wouldn't even be that lucky. He was just glad everything had timed out so that he'd be housebound by the end of October. At least he'd been able to help with the harvest before he couldn't do anything else. Still, it was really weird changing clothes or showering or even just resting his hands on his stomach. He'd thickened out a lot playing football, but he'd never been a large guy, at least in the fat sense of the word, and it was so weird having a gut now.

It kind of screwed with his center of balance.

"Kal?"

Clark sighed and nodded back at her. "You know, when you get pregnant, and I mean that in a long time from now, like centuries because you are never having sex anyway, I'm going to make fun of how fat you get."

She rolled her eyes impatiently, "Kal, you are not fat. You're festively plump. Plus, Kon's in there." She chirped, not hesitating to rub at his belly.

"Uh-huh. I still don't like being called not-so-little."

"But you're 6'3. You're not even little."

"That's not how you meant it."

Kara snerked, "Don't be such a bitch."

"Oh, I had to have had better cousins back on Krypton."

"No one's better than me," She said. "Come on. You're stalling because today's the day you lose."

"I never lose. You're a weakling."

"Yeah, right," He said.

"Clark? Kara?" Dr. Russell called. "I know the posturing is part of the process and it's just as cute and not-annoying now as it was four weeks ago, but can you get on with the lifting? My kid has a recital and I'd actually like to leave work before seven for once."

Clark blushed. "Sorry about that."

Kara giggled. "What type?"

"Clarinet," He supplied. "Come on, just do the test and I'll tell you the latest joke I have. It's a good one."

"They're never good ones," Clark groused, reaching down to wrap his hand around the barbell on the floor. It had only been loaded with several thousand pounds, since they couldn't put an infinite amount of weight on it, but it was still fairly good at strength judging. It's not like he'd had any trouble lifting it and he could keep up a lot more reps than Kara.

"They are too. I like the one about the guy who walks into a bar and says 'ouch.' Yous see it's funny because English has too many words with double meanings."

"Yeah, I got that, Kara," He said, bending lower to pick it up. He stood up to yank and then...nothing.

Kara, as was typical, hadn't really paid attention to him. "Jeez, Kal, you are so slow." She was already holding hers over his head.

Clark bit back the panic he felt surfacing. It was just a glitch or something. Of course, he reminded himself, he hadn't had a glitch since the solar flares and since Kara was fine, that clearly wasn't it. The other two times it had been because Eric Summers had stolen his powers and because of the spore. Clark shook his head and tried one more time and, to his infinite relief, the weight was as light as it always was.

"Nice," Dr. Neidermeyer said as he took down his notes. "Everything is still on baseline."

"Yes, that was certainly the highlight of my day," Dr. Russell replied. "Kids, you can put it down now and I'll not only tell you my wonderful joke but I'll treat you to an audio clip of Simon's last performance.

"Is he any good?" Clark asked, trying to keep everything as uneventful as possible. Yeah, they were his (probably evil) doctors, but he really didn't want them to know his powers were glitching.

"He's seven."

"Oh, that's not so good," Kara said, putting down her own weight.

Dr. Russell sighed. "He sounds a little like a long tailed cat stuck in a room full of rocking chairs."

"Cliche!" Clark chirped, despite himself. "You owe me a stupid, annoying, non-harmful tea."

"Or some more of your supplement," Russell offered.

"Seriously," Clark said, walking after the doctor with Kara trailing behind him. "How can you sit through one of those things, knowing it's going to be painful."

"Clark, I'm going to let you in on a long held parental secret."

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Here it is," Russell said, taking out his pen and making a few notes of his own. "No matter how awful your kid actually is, you're going to think whatever he paints, says, writes, sings, dances, plays, or otherwise puts forth is the most wonderful thing ever. It's like this wonderful selective deafness."

"We have perfect pitch," Kara offered. "Besides," she added, patting his stomach. "Kon's an El and we're all awesome."

Clark rolled his eyes. "And modest. That's what I like about us."

"Clark?" Lana prodded, stepping out of her own work space in the room's corner. "You're not distracting Dr. Russell, are you?"

Clark resisted the urge to remind her that not only was he not five, but that he was probably, even if he did tend to act without thinking through things most of the time, one of the smartest beings on the planet. "Yeah, well he got talky first."

"It's fine, Ms. Lang," Dr. Russell supplied. "I'm almost done here anyway."

"Good because we're due for a new round of blood draws."

Clark sighed. Blood draws meant Blue K and Blue K meant he couldn't hear the baby and he really hated that. "Fine, but can I call it an early day this time? I promised Chloe that I'd meet her for a late snack."

Lana's pinched expression contrasted sharply with her breezy tone. "Fine, Clark. Kara, are you coming?"

His cousin nodded and trailed behind them, but he could just make her humming the chorus to "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" as she did it.

Clark walked through revolving door of the Planet. He preferred just blurring in on Chloe, but ever since Lex purchased the Daily Planet, he'd been very careful to do everything the human way. He couldn't make it any easier to get caught. His stupid condition was already getting him into enough trouble with scientists. He really didn't need to draw attention from Lex too.

He sighed and just avoided getting his Crows' sweatshirt stuck in it. No, scratch that. He had managed to get caught. Clark cursed and yanked at the material, grimacing when he tore a segment off of it's front.

"Fuck!"

"Clark, I didn't know you worked here."

Clark froze and swallowed. He'd managed not to run into Lex Luthor for five months and now he was right behind him. Steadying himself, Clark turned around to face Lex and yanked at his sweatshirt, hoping it was as covering everything it should be.

"Lex."

Lex gave Clark the once over and smirked. "You're looking a little different these days. It's been a long time since your quarterback days, hasn't it?"

Clark resisted the suicidal urge to wrap his arms over his stomach. "Whatever, Lex."

"And that was especially cutting. No wonder you stopped writing. You hardly have a talent for language, do you?"

"I guess not," He said trying to brush past Lex.

The other man stepped to his left, refusing to let Clark pass. "Now there's no need to be rude."

Clark snorted. The last time they'd talked, it had been in Lex's office and he'd been crowing at the time about how much Lana still loved him. God, Clark would never hear the end of it, if he ever heard Kon's middle name. "I really don't feel like being polite with you either. It's Chloe's lunch break. She's allowed to take it and she's allowed to do that with whomever she wants."

"And you're here a lot for someone who lives two hours away."

"They invented cars for a reason."

"Uh-huh. Funny, though, you haven't been around as much in the last few months as you were after I first bought the Planet. Have I run you off?"

"Hardly. My family's been very busy lately."

"So I've heard," Lex said. "Lana's pregnant. It's always quite the talk of the town with a national senator's son manages to leave his live-in girlfriend with child, and you haven't even proposed. What would your father say?"

Clark flinched. He knew his father would never have approved of any of it, especially all the premarital sex that had led to his situation in the first place. Still, he wasn't ready to marry Lana and he knew it. Things were still so fucking rocky. They'd been better for a few days after naming the baby. God, the sex had been great, but then she started with the excuses again and the late nights at ISIS and the status quo had been reaffirmed.

If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she'd only slept with him in the first to make sure the name stuck.

But no.

That was nuts.

Lana would never use sex like that.

"Clark? Did my insult cut even deeper than usual?"

"It's fine."

"Your mother's approval ratings say otherwise. Red states don't appreciate bastard children."

It took everything Clark had not to flash fry Lex where he stood. Clenching his fists at his side, he said, "No one talks about my son like that."

"It's technically true. You could fix that, but you won't. Afraid Lana would run off on you at the altar?"

"You'd know," He replied. "We're blissfully happy together."

Lex chuckled as if it were the funniest joke he'd ever heard. "I'll bet. She just glows, doesn't she?"

Clark nodded. "She does."

Lana had come out as pregnant three weeks ago by wearing false padding around her stomach, and so far everyone had bought it. Of course they would. No one was going to think that it was Martha Kent's son who was five months to term.

Well, maybe someone from Smallville would believe that.

"I know she does. She looks even more lovely pregnant this time than she did the last."

"Yeah," Clark agreed. He wasn't sure if Lex knew that he knew about the faked baby or not. He decided to act as if he didn't know that anything had ever befallen the Luthor child but a miscarriage.

"She seems so much better at the fundraisers we attend too. She had so many migraines last time."

Clark just bet she had with all the crap he'd been pumping into her. "She's been pain free the entire pregnancy." Now that was true. He'd been the one with the morning sickness and, now, the weird glitches.

"Oh," Lex purred, looking down at Clark's midsection. "I just bet she has been." He smirked. "You know, I've heard that father's-to-be sometimes put on a little or, in your case, a lot of weight eating right along with the mother. Of course, Lana's always been so reasonable about her health."

"Yes, she has."

Lex laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were the one in his second trimester."

Clark's blood froze, but he managed to stay calm. Kon's heartbeat reverberating in his ears helped a lot with that. "Are you done being petty?"

"For the day at least." Lex replied, shaking his head. "The billionaire or the farmer, a man who could give her everything she wanted-did in fact, and a man who can barely keep his farm running. You know, I'd have said Lana was just shallow and ran toward the tall, dark, and handsome, but that's hardly the case now, is it?"

"I don't have to listen to this."

"I was just wondering what she sees in you."

"Maybe it's because I have a soul."

Lex's humor evaporated and the gaze he focused on Clark was twice as piercing as anything Schwartz had ever leveled on him. "Are you sure about that?"

"I fucking hate your boss," Clark snarled as stormed into Chloe's corner of the basement. Much to his surprise and gratification, the other reporters on the floor clapped.

"Feeling's rampant," Chloe replied.

"Ain't that the truth," Lois groused. "I hate Cue Ball and he has shit taste in new hires. Grant's a bitch and a half and she's going to get us sued for libel."

"Well, it's not like Lex can't afford it," Chloe chirped.

"Smallville, your sweatshirt's totally had it."

Clark fingered the hem of it ruefully. "I had an accident with the door."

Lois chuckled, "Only you. Hey, are you feeling better? Chloe told me how you've been all laid out with mono. That sucks."

His eyes widened. "She did?"

"Yeah, she says you've been all laid up a lot and that's why you have...well it's why you're a little, uh, different lately."

Despite himself, Clark grinned at Lois's sad attempt to be polite. "It's okay, Lois. You get points for trying."

"It's all I ask. Now it you will excuse me, I have to beat the slut upstairs to the scoop on the newest mayoral indiscretion." She said, grabbing her purse and rushing up the stairs.

"Wow, Lois is really focused."

"She works better against and enemy, like with a plan of attack," Chloe supplied. "With Lex and Cat to focus on, she's been scary dedicated lately."

"Cool. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I can't get anything published and I got blacklisted again at every paper in town, but I've gotten Perry upstairs putting his name on some of my stuff. Lex at least publishes most of what the Pit Bull puts out."

"That sucks, Chlo."

She shrugged. "I've been busy on the side with Ollie and Kara. When I finally get all my dirt collected, there won't be a paper in the country that won't jump to indict Metropolis's favorite son."

"That's nice. He's an asshole."

"Language! You've been on me for months about letting things slip in front of Kon."

"I know, but he's really pissing me off today."

"You saw him, didn't you?"

"I...yeah."

Chloe frowned and dragged him into the storage room. "Clark, we talked about this. You promised you'd stop coming by. I hate to tell you this, but it's getting kind of obvious. I mean, not to everyone, only crazy people and us buy the whole 'pregnant guy' thing, but Lex had to have noticed the difference."

"You think?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "Did he say anything?"

"He implied a lot, but you know Lex. Half the time he just says things to get a reaction that he can evaluate and pick apart at a later time. It's about self-incrimination."

"Did you do that?"

"No! I didn't say anything. He was the one inquiring about Lana's health." And staring at him, but he really didn't need to give Chloe a heart attack.

"Clark, tell me everything."

"There's nothing to tell. He was just a smug bastard like always. He's thrilled I'm fat."

Chloe sighed. "Don't pout. It's not cute and you know this is transitory."

"Yeah, that's so easy to remember when your kid's namesake is rubbing in how he's got more money than god and is more attractive and successful than you are."

Chloe sighed again. "He's doing it because he's jealous you have Lana. Lex is a petty jerk and he always says what cuts deepest. It doesn't mean anything. Kara and I think you look great."

He snorted. "You two are just excited for every day Kon gets bigger."

"Naturally, but it was scary when you weren't gaining anything at all. Besides, it's kind of hot."

Clark rolled his eyes. "I'm counting that as your first symptom of meteor rock poisoning. I look awful."

"Well, you could do to spruce up a bit. I think you wore the poor sweatshirt into the ground."

"Oh, ha-ha."

"Clark, let Kara, your mom and me take you shopping."

"You just want to get rid of all the flannel."

"And how. You're still the same, handsome guy." And, as he expected, she reached out to stroke his belly. "You just have an extra bundle of cute added onto you."

"Gee thanks."

Chloe shook her head and leaned down to his bump. "Your dad's just being a bitc...a bit grouchy today. Don't listen to him. Ask Aunt Kara, being attractive runs in the family."

"Aunt Chloe's also been known to date Jimmy Olsen. I'm worried she might be blind."

"And Aunt Kara thinks he's hot so it must be true." Chloe said, laughing. Looking back up at him, she added. "Don't worry, Clark, you're still very cute."

"God, I sound like such a girl."

"Um, I'm taking the fifth on that," Chloe replied, pulling up a spare office chair and sitting down in it. "It's alright. Lex played you and you're really sensitive right now anyway. Besides, he's full of it. Lana loves you."

Clark's sensitive ears picked up her racing heart, but even if he hadn't, her bright teeth shining back at him were a huge clue that she was lying.

He sighed. "Chlo, I don't need a cheerleader right now."

"I'm good at that part."

"I know, but Kara's too immature to handle the truth about things and I'm sure mom knows everything because she so is psychic, but I don't like making her feel bad if I can help it."

Chloe frowned. "I honestly thought things were better between you do. God, the week after we picked out Kon's name, Kara wouldn't stop complaining about the noise you two kept making."

"I know."

"All. Night. Long, Clark."

He blushed. Chloe had a way of doing that to him. "I...we did, we really did, but it only lasted the week. She's kind of back to avoiding me a little. I mean, we're sleeping together but we're not sleeping together."

"Sex isn't everything, Clark. I know you're a guy, but come on."

"I know, but she tried for a week or two to come home early from ISIS and hang out on the farm and then it's been late nights again. We were supposed to go shopping last weekend for baby things, and she canceled for some fund raiser in Star City."

Chloe sighed. "You know, if you try, there's no shame in admitting something isn't going to work."

"My mom and dad always worked everything out."

"My parents couldn't."

"Your mom's sick, Chlo. It's different. Lana's fine, and she does love us. She just gets busy."

"You don't have to do this to yourself."

"Kon deserves to have a mom."

"Martha's awesome. Can't grandma fill in?"

"She's busy in D.C. or at least she will be for the next four years. Lex said that her approval ratings kind of suck lately."

"I...they're not as good as they were, but as scandals go, Clark, this is hardly an airport bathroom of indiscretion or a 5,000 charge for some 'companionship.' Don't look for something else to feel guilty about. Martha's going to be fine."

"Then she'd still be busy in D.C.," he said. "Chloe we don't have to go through everything."

"You brought it up."

"I just...I don't think she's very happy with me."

"She wasn't very happy with you before Kon. Lana was one of my best friends for years and I know her better than anyone. She's never happy with anyone. She flirted with you while Whitney was dying half a world away. She just sort of drifted away from Jason even before he turned out to be nuts, and when she was with you, she spent all her time hanging out with Lex and the ship. And we all know how well everything went for him when she was married to him."

Clark narrowed his eyes. "I kind of resent being the home wrecker in that scenario."

She shrugged. "You've had smoother moments than that whole wedding day disaster. I'm just saying, Lana has this fairy tale built up in her head of how everything is supposed to be and no matter how great she has it, the reality never lives up to it. It's not just you. I mean, she was married to the richest man in the country, outside of Ollie and the Wayne Trustee. Yeah, Lex is a complete psycho, but she either didn't know it or was ignoring it. He was giving her trips to Amsterdam and designer dresses and everything else she could have asked for and it still wasn't enough."

"It was Lex ."

"Yeah, and he's not anywhere close to human."

"Hey!"

She rolled her eyes. "Card carrying meta right here. You know what I mean. He's a rat of the first order, but he was charming her big time and it wasn't enough."

"Maybe I could be more charming?"

"Okay, how are you from an advanced civilization again? It's not about you. It's about her unrealistic expectations. I mean, sure, running away with your superpowered boyfriend sounds great in theory and apparently if Kara's rants are any indication, the sex is great."

"He can hear this!"

"Oh, please. It's not like he understands any of it. He's not even fully cooked yet."

"Oh that is so weird."

"The point is that the reality is still there. You still have a cousin to deal with and several galaxies' worth of evil and cows and farm bills and now a baby. No one can give Lana the kind of dedication and fantasy stuff she craves." She snorted. "You're like Nitzsche's wet dream here and even you can't do it."

"The Phantom came close." He said sullenly.

"No, the Phantom promised to fly her to Paris where he may or may not have ripped her heart out if he got in a snit. Clark, it's not about you, really it's not."

"I...maybe, but if were different-"

Chloe smiled sadly up at him. "But you're not. We're not. We are what we are and, barring Knox ever going actual philanthropist or Jor-El stops being a dick, this is how it's going to be. You're a great guy and Kon's already the star of Lois's and my refrigerator, if Lana can't handle that-"

"She can," he defended.

She sighed. "You know, this whole roller coaster you two have been on wasn't cute in junior high and I get really fucking sick of it sometimes. Clark, are you going to go back and forth like this until what? When Kon's born? When he starts first grade? How about when he goes to Harvard?"

"Aiming high again?" Clark said, trying for levity.

"You know I'm the go-to girl for Dear Abby, but I'm going to keep telling you the same thing."

"Couldn't you just hand me some M&Ms, pat my back, and call it a day?"

"Sullivan-Lanes are honest, and I can't lie about how I feel."

"Yeah, I'll sort it out eventually," He said, sighing. "I just...I think you're right about the me coming here thing. I maybe have a month, six weeks on the outside where I can still sort of muddle through doing errands in town, but I can't come where he works anymore. I was stupid to come today after I promised you I wouldn't two weeks ago, but I had to see you."

"Lana angst is usually not that urgent."

"No, I...Chlo, you can't tell anyone."

"Is it Fine?"

"No."

"The Fortress or caves didn't try something, did they?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong?"

He supposed everything was too broad an answer. "Chlo, remember how you were pissed about the strength testing Lana insisted on?"

"I'm still pissed about that. It's exploitive."

"It was a good idea," He said.

"What do you mean?"

"I glitched today."

"What? Are you a toaster now?"

"No, I mean that my strength went out. It was only a split second, but when I tried to lift, I couldn't even budge the bar. I haven't done that since I came back sick from the Phantom Zone."

Chloe bit her lip and concentrated. "Has anything else gone wonky?"

He shook his head. "No, the hearing and vision are fine. I can hear him like always. I ran to ISIS this morning. I haven't used my heat vision in a while, but I think that's still okay. It was just the strength." Then, thinking over the last few weeks, he frowned. "Well actually-"

"What?"

"I've been more tired lately. I'm sleeping about seven hours a night, but humans do that so I wasn't too worried. It's not like it's all day or anything."

She nodded. "It's going to happen again, isn't it?"

"It might not."

"Or something could be starting. You can't hide this from the doctors for long. They measure you every day."

"I don't want them to know. I mean, Lana controls the Blue K. It's hers and she never lets it out of her sight, but if my invulnerability or strength just fizzle on their own and they know it...I don't want to be weak around them and not be able to make it stop. I can shut a lead box. I can make my powers come back on command when I'm sick."

"Clark, you have to tell Martha and Lana."

He shook his head. "Mom will worry and she's so scared already. Lana will just make me do even more tests or give me a cot at ISIS or something." He was only half kidding about the cot. He already averaged five days a week there. If Lana thought he needed more testing...

Just no.

"Chlo, please. I just needed to tell someone because I couldn't go through this alone, but I can't tell anyone else."

"Oh, Clark."

He sighed and looked down at his hands. They could rip through steel with no problem, normally. What would they be able to do tomorrow or in two months from now?

"I'm scared."

That was all it took for soft arms to wrap around him. "I'm sorry. It's only four more months. You can get through this."

"What if it's just starting? What if the baby gets sick?"

"He won't." Chloe said.

"He could...we could...Hell, we are. I shouldn't have my powers disappear. I shouldn't be tired like this."

"You're going to be fine."

"You're not Pollyanna, Chlo."

"No, but I can heal anything, even you, if memory serves. I'd never let anything happen to either of you."

He closed his eyes and leaned against her shoulder. "I know."

She stayed like that for a long time and, as stressed as he was, it took him a while to realize she was singing softly. Her voice was sweet and lilting and surprisingly deep. He'd always seen Chloe as a soprano, actually, but the low notes she reached were somehow even more beautiful.

He laughed when he realized what she was singing. "'Always look on the bright side?'"

She pulled away and shrugged. "Eric Idle's a bright guy and it worked for Brian."

"He got crucified."

"Okay, almost. The point is, we stop apocalypse on an annual basis and thwart Lex as a pastime. We can get through anything."

"I can't lose him."

"You won't."

"I can't be weak around them . I know they've been waiting for it."

"You won't be and even if you were, Kara would kick their asses for you."

"I feel so manly now."

She smirked and patted his stomach. "It's a sliding scale. You could still flash fry all of them and Lex into kindling."

"I feel better now."

"You should. You still have the best superpowers."

"While they last."

"So," she said, perking up. "I thought I had lunch break. Don't tell me you're not hungry."

He placed a hand over hers and squeezed it against his stomach. "Always now."

Chloe smiled. "There's a new Italian place that opened up."

"Ooh, pizza."

Chloe rolled her eyes indulgently. "If only all your problems could be solved with extra cheese. Oh hey, speaking of you eating, I got you something."

"Sometimes I feel like a turkey in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving."

"You probably should," She said handing him the ziplock bag.

Clark shrugged sheepishly as he reached inside. "Uh, Lana doesn't know about this does she?"

Chloe sighed. "Are you kidding? She won't let you have caffeine or extra sugar, as if Kon's sensitive. I can't explain sneaking you nails."

"Thanks. Kara's been surprisingly discreet about my cravings." He said, taking a bite of the iron she'd offered him. It was what all the need for cherry pie and spinach had been about over the last month. He just found that the actual metal hit the spot better.

And finding that out had been so weird and involved way too much free time in the loft.

Chloe winced a little as he bit in, as if expecting that this time, as opposed to the first ten, his teeth would shatter. "You know, Clark, my life's never boring with you."

"You mean it's weird as Hell," he corrected, swallowing.

"And I always had a penchant for the bizarre," She corrected. "You're perfect for me, ALF."

He stood up and gave her a quick squeeze of the shoulders. "Thanks, Storm. I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do."


	14. Chapter 14

14

21 Weeks

"Clark, not that I don't love you and all the fun misadventures we get into together, but why are we combing through your dusty attic again?"

"Because, Chlo," he said, grousing a little as his stomach bumped into a box. God it was so freaking weird having something like that jutting out in front of him. "I've been really lax about the whole getting a nursery together thing. So far, all I have are Norman and Harry and Connor needs a little more than two stuffed animals."

She scoffed. "You should see the lot of toys and pillows and things I just know that Martha's been stockpiling for you. You are totally covered as far as nice loot."

"You know what I mean. Fuck," he added, as he knocked into a table. "I hate this."

Chloe sighed impatiently. "Clark, remember when you asked me if you were acting like a girl?"

"I am not."

"You don't have to be so sensitive about the stomach thing."

"You gain thirty pounds and keep bumping into things because you forget your stomach's out to there."

"It's not that bad."

"How is it not that bad."

She shrugged. "You're a huge guy, and I mean height wise, and a lot of women-just plain, old 5'4 like yours truly-gain fifty or sixty pounds while they're pregnant."

"Fifty?" He asked, horrified.

"That's what they said happened to Jennifer Lopez."

"She had two babies. Kon's just the one."

"Oh, poor baby. You have four more months to go and you're really not all that big for your size. You're just not used to it."

"Damn straight." He said, pulling the dusty bed sheet off of his prize. "I knew it was here."

Chloe waved her hand in front of her face and coughed at all the dust floating in the air. "And what have we found?"

"This," he replied, grinning and waving his hand in a little flourish at the old wooden cradle behind him.

"It's a little dirty."

Clark smirked and blurred into superspeed, polishing off the crib and leaving it with a high gloss. "Is that better?"

Chloe's eyes widened. "Clark, it's beautiful."

He nodded and set his hands carefully on the hand carved headboard. It was cut with intricate patterns of tangled ivy and a few stray flowers. "My grandfather made it for my dad. He cleaned it out and we were going to, you know..."

"I know." She said, saving him from having to mention the other Kent baby out loud.

"I know it's old and stuff, but it's really sturdy too and it's a family heirloom. I've been thinking about adding it to the nursery when we get it set up. I don't know. I think it would look good with the mixture of the House colors and the stuff from the Kent side. I just...I think it's really perfect."

She sighed. "You don't have to sell me, Clark. It's your nursery. I'll just be stopping in to 'ooh' and 'ahh' and make a big deal over Connor."

"Yeah, I know. I was just kind of rehearsing what I was going to say with Lana."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I don't think you have to justify how you want to decorate your kid's nursery to her."

"No, not that. It's just that she's been looking in all these catalogs for the best money can buy stuff. I mean, after Ollie fenced that stuff for me, I have enough for college and clothes and toys and all that stuff. And part of that would be a state of the art crib."

"How can a crib be 'state of the art.'"

He shrugged, "High tech plastic, maybe? But she's been pushing for the ultramodern stuff. The best of the best from Metropolis. I don't really want to spoil him like that. I mean, yeah, we could just keep fencing diamonds, but that's not right."

"You didn't steal them."

"No, what I mean is that he should learn about hard work and thrift and stuff like that. I grew up on the farm and didn't have the best of everything and I think it's good like that. I mean, no offense to Ollie, but I just don't think the silver spoon route would be the way to go."

"It's a very handsome crib." Chloe conceded. "Are you taking it down?"

"What? You're not going to help me?"

"You can lift the tractor."

"Fine, so chivalry is dead. The point is that I am going to be taking this down in a few days. I still have to move mom's old desk and stuff out of the way. I just was getting your opinion on it."

"Well I think it's a fine choice for the best little nephew ever."

"See and that's why I need to keep things cheap at least. With you and Kara ego-stroking, this kid is going to be so self-absorbed."

"Yeah, you're an egomaniac."

"I am on red K." Chloe quirked her head at him. "What?"

"Have you thought about that?"

"About what?"

"About the Kryptonite stuff. Connor might not get sick like you do."

"Or he might."

"Do you think that maybe living in the meteor rock capital of the world is the best place for him?"

"The farm's clean and most of the town is safe. Kara and I live here and I grew up here. He'll be fine. I can't leave the farm, Chlo."

Chloe sighed. "Clark, I know this is completely the wrong time for this and that there might not be a right time until Connor's at least in preschool, but you don't have to stay here."

"I like it here."

"I mean, you can go back to school and get a job off the farm like you wanted back in high school."

He sighed back. "And that was high school and I have other responsibilities now," He replied, letting his hand come to cradle his stomach.

"You'll go back to being on deck after Kon's weaned, won't you?"

Clark flinched and fought back a slight swell of nausea. "Don't remind me, Chlo. I'm still convinced Kara's wrong on that one."

Chloe smirked. "Nothing like your powers of denial. I'm not saying it will be pretty-I'm voting a severely traumatizing for all of us-but I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying. Anyway, I do intend to go back to the hero stuff. I can't make Kara take the brunt of it forever, but it'll be different than before."

She nodded. "I just...and don't take this the wrong way because I love Connor already, but you don't have to use him as an excuse to hide on the farm for the next 19 years."

"Excuse me?"

"I...when your dad died, you stayed here a lot longer than you should have."

"And then I was ready to leave last summer but Kara came and I couldn't go. I know I have responsibilities and I know that I wasn't meant to be stuck on the farm, and I'm not even talking in an epic alien destiny kind of way. I mean, I never wanted that to be my life. I never wanted to be one of those also-rans down at the Wild Coyote, but I kind of managed to put my life on hold."

"I know, but you don't have to take two decades off."

"I won't."

"Just checking. I know we have unlimited time on our hands, yay us, but you can make the most of it."

"Kon is the most of it."

"I know, and I'm jumping ahead because he's not here yet, but just don't drop out of the world. Ollie and the boys and I and Metropolis will all still need you. The perky blonde version just doesn't compare, you know?"

He grinned. "Thanks, Chlo."

"Now, can we go downstairs because I hate the dust up here."

"Chicken."

"Kangaroo."

Clark had had the longest day. There'd been early tests at ISIS and then he'd ended up having to wait for blood work to come back. In short, it had just been a mess. Add to that, the odd and disconcerting fact that his speed had given out on the Lowell County line and he'd had to walk (waddle) the rest of the five miles back to the farm, and he was beat.

It would have been today that Kara was off in Star City helping Ollie, not that he'd let her know about the glitches yet.

This was only the third one and they never lasted more than a few hours. The first one, with his strength, had been over in a blink. Then, last week, he'd been unable to make toast the way he preferred. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a tragedy being unable to heat vision his breakfast, but it had thrown him a lot and he hadn't been able to reactivate it for almost twenty minutes. Today had been the longest. Technically, his speed had come back once he reached town, but he'd been in no hurry anyway and he'd kind of enjoyed being out.

He rarely got out anymore and any time he wasn't in ISIS or up contemplating, not moping, in the loft was a good time.

He'd been disappointed that Lana hadn't been at ISIS that day. Apparently, according to Dr. Russell, she'd been busy working on some patient overviews on the other side of the facility. Still, without Kara and without Lana, the lab was an overwhelming and lonely place. It was worse to have the blood draws without Lana because that had left Schwartz for the day in charge of the Blue K.

Clark had been scared he wouldn't shut the box when everything was over.

But he had, and now he was back home and his powers were all on full strength.

Life was looking up.

Clark sighed and leaned against the front porch's railing. The sun was still in the sky-setting, but still there-and he enjoyed letting it soak up into him. It made him feel a lot less tired than he had been just a few minutes ago. Clark glanced down at his stomach and let his X-ray vision, peel everything away until he could watch Kon. His son twisted just a little, angling himself to the welcoming rays too.

"You are going to be just like daddy, aren't you, little guy?" Clark sighed. He kind of hoped he was wrong. As angry as it made his mom and Chloe and Kara, when Lana had talked about wishing Kon were more human (normal), Clark sometimes agreed with her. Not that he could do anything to change his DNA, but it would just be easier for Kon if he were like everyone else.

Maybe if his son were very lucky, he wouldn't be as strong or have the heat vision. Maybe he could get the more fun ones like the speed and the flight (which Clark was still working on), and he wouldn't be as...dangerous.

God, Clark had missed not being able to play sports until he'd been a senior in high school.

Or go to parties.

Or playgroups.

He wanted Kon to fit in so much, it hurt.

He sighed and rubbed his stomach. "I'm sorry, Kon. I know you're getting all the weird stuff from me. I promise that your Aunt Kara and I will show you how to live with it though. I promise, and maybe when you get really good control of it, which I had in freshman year no matter what grandpa said, you can play sports too. Not that you have to. If you want to be in the marching band or art club or something, that's cool too."

"Clark?"

He brought his head up to find Lana looking back at him from behind the screen door. "Lana? I thought you were in Metropolis."

She smiled and it was a genuine one. "I know, but I had a surprise that I've been working on."

"Oh, did you now." He said, turning away from the fields and around to face her. He tried really hard not to notice the way Lana flinched when presented with his girth. With the added weight, he really did look like he'd fallen in love with Budweiser and too many potato chips...to the untrained eye. To his family, who knew exactly what was happening, it was blatantly clear how far along he was.

Lana's smile widened with some effort and she opened the door, taking time to lean over a little (it wasn't really that far down for her, Chloe, or his mother being the midgets that they were) and say hi to their son, "You and your dad are late."

He nodded. "I felt like walking a little. Sometimes, I just like to be out and about in Smallville."

Lana nodded and started to reach out to pat his stomach. Her hand hovered there for a few minutes but finally fell to her side. Clark sighed. She was trying. She was coming home early half the nights of the week, and she was being better about including him in all the doctor consultations.

Yeah, she still wasn't really touching him, but she was talking to Connor now.

She also had gotten really into the nursery kick.

"That's nice. It's good that you're getting that out of your system now. In about four weeks, I don't think it's going to be good for you to be out in public."

Clark sighed. She was probably right. It was Smallville, after all, and in a town of molemen, plant ladies, and fat-sucking vampires, someone might actually put two-and-two together and recognize a pregnant man (and yes that phrase was still ridiculous even to think about) when they saw one.

"I know."

"So, I have a surprise, like I said."

"I like surprises. Does it involve sardines?"

"Hardly," She replied, wrinkling up her nose. "Uh, Clark?"

"Yeah?" he asked, following her up the stairs.

"I was out in the barn the other day, looking for the spare tape measure and I noticed that we were missing a few of our nails."

"How many?" He asked, his voice cracking a little.

"All of them."

"Oh."

Lana sighed as they neared the top of the stairs. "Have you been eating them?"

"No, of course not."

"Clark," She prodded tiredly.

"Fine. I might have been munching on some lately."

Wait for it and there it was, that patented Lana Lang look of disappointment. He could tell by the subtle shaking of her head. "That can't be good for him."

"Well, actually, it must not be all bad because I've been doing it for a month and he's been perfectly healthy at every single check up. I needed the iron and I guess I got it."

"There are more normal ways to get iron."

He sighed. "And I needed to get a lot of it. Can we not play the 'what's not normal about the Kryptonian pregnancy' game tonight? I get really sick of that one."

Her face pinched up. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't have done it. It could have hurt Connor."

Clark sighed again. Lana was the only one who hadn't just gone with it and shortened their son's name to Kon. Yeah, Chloe brought out the full name once in a while because she loved the Irish undertones, but mostly, he was just Kon. Some petty part of him wondered if Lana would try calling him Joseph, if she could get away with it. "It didn't. I needed it and I got it, keep getting it in fact." He stopped by Frank's just that afternoon for yet more nails. Incidentally, Frank was wishing them well on barn repairs.

"Clark, let the doctors work on more supplements for you, if that's the case. I just don't think it's good for you to eat non-edible things."

He shrugged. "I used to eat paint chips as a kid."

"Connor," She said brusquely, enunciating his full name. "...is half-human. If we don't subject him to caffeine and alcohol and other dangerous things, then I don't think we should do nails."

"Fine," He bit back. "I can't wait to have another flavor of totally gross shake to drink."

Lana quirked her head slightly. "At least it's working." He noticed as she said that, that she kept her eyes firmly planted on his chest.

Idly, he wondered where she'd look if that thing Kara was surely, totally, completely and utterly wrong about happened and he started being able to relate to cows on a whole new level.

Clark groaned and rubbed at sternum. He was never, ever having sex again.

"That's true. The doctors were just thrilled with the weight gain for the week, by the way."

"That's great," Lana said, stopping outside of his mom's office door.

He frowned, "Lana?"

"I know we were going to go to Gotham this weekend to look at those stores there too."

He'd already been drug through the best baby boutiques in Metropolis. Objectively, he supposed they were nice. Kara had confided to him that as a council family, they'd had quite a reserve of wealth. Apparently, though, Kryptonians mostly put that into their educations and they weren't exactly a frilly society to begin with. However, in theory, if things had gone differently, he'd have come from money originally. But he was a Kent and there was no way he could, in good conscience, pay a thousand dollars for a stroller or a hundred dollars for a rattle.

That was nuts.

Way more nuts than him being pregnant in the first place.

Apparently, Lana had decided that his hesitance to spend was based on location and not a matter of principle.

No, shopping at ridiculously overpriced stores in Gotham would not make him want to buy that spoiled crap anymore than it did in Metropolis.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied, his heart speeding up a little. Clark, on a hunch, took a deep breath. The stench of freshly drying paint assaulted his nose and he smiled. "You had them fix up the nursery already! You got someone to move down the crib and everything. I have to tell you," He said, twisting the door knob. "Kara's going to be pissed. She was really trying to decide between butter and sunflower yellow and she wasn't sure to use the older House symbol or the one from the crystals and oh." He said, stopping in the center of the room.

Lana strode around him, very careful not to get too close to his stomach. "Isn't this exquisite?"

"That's one way of putting it," He croaked back and, God, did his throat feel dry. The nursery was absolutely nothing like what he'd talked about or what Kara'd been plotting for four months. "It's so...purple."

"I know."

"I...Kon's a boy."

"Exactly, just because Connor's a boy doesn't mean he has to be tied down into traditional colors. Purple is a royal color. You have a House anyway, don't you?"

"I...it's not the same thing, and the colors are red, yellow, and blue and you know this."

"But it's a striking shade."

"I..." He said, running a hand along the ebony crib in the center of everything. It was beautiful and shiny and as fancy as his grandfather's crib was humble. "Where's my family crib? Didn't you even try bringing it down?"

Lana wrinkled her nose even further and it vaguely reminded him of a squirrel. He really hoped that Kon didn't inherit that expression. It wasn't pleasant. "We went up to look at it but the designer deemed it structurally unsound. Clark, that thing was an antique."

"It was my dad's, and it was good enough for my little sister." He said, choking on those words.

In the list of regrets he had, the death of those two people were number one and two.

"But it wasn't safe and it was kind of a fire hazard."

"What do you mean was ?"

"Well, I couldn't leave that old thing up there waiting to go up, could I?"

Clark felt his heart stop beating. "Where is it?"

"We cleared it out."

"What do you mean you 'cleared it out?'"

"I had the designer cart it away to the dump with the spare boxes and everything else."

"How could you?"

"It was old."

"It was mine," he replied. "It belonged to me and my family. It survived the second meteor shower when most of my house didn't. It's the only thing besides a shotgun that I have left of my grandfather. I...how could you do that without even asking me first?"

"We'd already talked about getting a new crib."

"But I said I didn't want to." He shook his head. "Do you ever fucking listen to me?"

Lana flinched at his harsh tone. "What?"

"You never listen to me. It doesn't matter what it is. You sure as Hell don't listen to me about the doctors, and you don't listen to me about the name."

"I have listened about the doctors."

"You only stopped after my mom gave you an ultimatum. You haven't treated me like I had half a brain since I got knocked up."

"That's a horrible way to say that."

He narrowed his eyes. "It's what happened. You screwed me once and then you keep doing it every fucking chance you get." He started pacing the expanse of the room. He reached out one long arm and pulled down a pretentious and hideous, porcelain clown doll. It was one of at least seven. It matched with the general clown theme in the room, which he hated. He hated the large painted circus mural, hated the knitted silk blankets, hated the rocking chair that he could tell was as costly as the crib. "What the Hell is any of this?"

"It's how I thought the nursery should be decorated."

"Review that sentence. You did exactly what you wanted."

"Well, it's not like your plans for the nursery were what I wanted either!"

"You have a problem with stuffed cows and yellow walls?"

"I have a problem with you putting our child in a rickety old, dangerous piece of kindling, and I really don't want that-"

"What?" He asked, turning and looming over her. It wasn't as impressive as he wanted it to be with Kon practically thrust against her stomach. "What don't you want?"

"I don't want your house symbol on our walls. That was Kara's idea and I never wanted it."

"Fine, I can see the danger in that, but there's nothing too alien ," and he spit out that word with as much anger as he could muster. "...about red, yellow, and blue as colors. If there is, someone should fucking notify the Tyco corporation."

"This is better."

"Chloe, my mom, and Kara have all been planning this for months. We were going to paint the room together in normal speed, make a whole weekend of it. It was going to be for the whole family and you took that away."

"This is better." She stated again.

"For whom?" Who is this better for? This isn't even us. It's cold and sterile and overpriced and it looks like a room taken right out of the mansion!"

"It's...it's not."

"Goddamn it, Lana! I can hear everything. I don't know why you can't get that. I can hear your heartbeat speeding up as you lie to me. Is this what the old nursery looked like. Did you just recreate the whole thing here?"

"Clark-" She wavered.

"Don't you dare lie to me. Don't you even think it."

"I...yes. It's like what Lex picked out."

"Then why the fuck is it in my house?"

"I liked it. I thought it was fitting."

"You're not married to Lex anymore."

"Well, I'm not married to you either, am I?"

He reeled back a little. "Is this what this is about? Are you ambushing me so I'll what? Propose?"

"Your mom said that she told you not to propose to me and you listened, Clark. God, you are such a hypocrite. You whine and moan and complain about me not loving you and you can't even ask me to marry you?"

"I do love you."

"There's no rock on my finger."

He stepped back a few steps at the blunt, materialistic way she'd described proposing. "I can't marry you yet."

"Really, why?"

He raised his hands and gestured at the room. "Because you don't respect me."

"Of course I do."

"You don't go behind the backs of people you respect, Lana. I can't marry you because, honestly, I don't know if this is going to last. Hell, I don't even know if it's going to hold together until he's born."

"I can't believe you're saying this."

"I can't believe you redecorated my home to be like his . I can't believe that you'd trash something that's been a part of my family for forty years. I can believe that you didn't want my House colors on the wall, but I was hoping you were getting past that."

"Clark, I just wanted to surprise you."

"Well you fucking well did. Undo it, Lana, or I'll have Kara change it as fast as she can."

"I like this."

"You aren't a Luthor anymore. You had that shot. Lex is a psychopath and he's cruel and abusive to the meteor mutants he's spent years torturing, but he's rich and powerful and very, very human-possibly the worst of humanity, quite frankly-but he has all those things going for him. So don't live with me and redecorate my house so you can pretend for whatever sick, twisted fucking reason that you're still with him. Don't play mind games with me and don't guilt me into giving my son his name."

"It's staying Joseph or I won't let you call him Kon."

"You think you can dictate what I say? What I call him?"

"No," she replied reasonably. "But we agreed weeks ago on his name."

Clark shook his head. "We never agree on anything. Tell me and I swear to God, if you lie I'll dump all your things at ISIS myself." Which was only a fifty-fifty threat considering how his speed and strength had been fading out on him.

"What?"

"Do you still love Lex?"

Lana's face closed down immediately and the stare she sent back at him was as chilling as any he'd seen on Zod. "He violated me. Can you imagine how much it would hurt if tomorrow Connor was dead?"

"Don't even say it."

"That's what it felt like. I bled. I fell to the goddamn bathroom floor covered in my blood and I spent weeks thinking I'd done something wrong, that I was broken in some way, that it was my fault. If that happened to you, if you learned tomorrow that everything you'd been imaging we're going to have with Connor was a lie, how would you feel?"

"I couldn't...he's here."

"Mine wasn't. He made me think there was something wrong with me, Clark, when there wasn't. He gave me a family and he took it away. I can't love him after that."

"But you can't let him go either. Not with that room or with our son or with anything else. Lex was right. You might not love him, but you're obsessed with him, and I'm not living in a three way relationship."

Lana laughed and it was a braying, bitter sound. "You already are. Chloe's in our whole fucking life. She's your everything."

"She is not."

"You keep going to her."

Clark tensed a little, hoping she hadn't figured out how sick he actually was. "I don't, but it's not the same. We didn't name our child after her. We didn't model his room after the Talon apartment. I can't live with him, even the ghost of him, in my house."

"You aren't."

"Fine, then repaint the room."

"No."

"Then you should. Oh, ouch." He said, bending over and clutching his side. Clark had only had a stomach ache once in his life. He'd gone with Chloe to the Fourth of July and eaten his normal amount and gotten on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Apparently without the invulnerable constitution...it had been a rough night.

"Clark?"

"I, whoa." He said, and it was like this stitch-that was the right word, wasn't it?-in his lower left side, just over his hip, like a slight jab or something.

"Clark!"

"I...it's...I think it's a cramp?"

"You're not sure?"

"I've never had one before except in my arms from farm work. I just, ouch, that's not really all that fun." He asked, mildly detached. He was really kind of inexperienced over pain and this was both new and undefinable. He'd definitely never felt anything like it.

"Clark," Lana said, calmly. "I think we should go to ISIS."

"No, it's just it's a small cramp thing. I'm sure it's fine," he wheezed.

"No, we should take you and you can stay overnight for observation."

He stepped back and shook his head. "I won't do that."

"Be reasonable."

"I can't stay there overnight, not in a lab, not ever. I won't do it."

"Don't be so immature. This could be dangerous."

"I...it's subsiding."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not. It's better now," He said, standing up. "I'm better."

"We're going to see the team."

"No, I don't want that. I'm fine now. It was a glitch or something and I won't stay overnight in a shady lab."

"It's my lab and it's where you belong."

Clark flinched, and automatically brought both hands to cradle Connor. "We don't. I can't...I won't go there to stay," he said.

"Clark, you will do what I say."

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "I won't."

And, for the first time in their relationship, he sped away on her.

By the time he got to The Talon, the weird cramps were back, this time it felt like it was right into his kidney (he had those, right?) right then. Clark stumbled up the stairs and knocked on Chloe's door.

"Chlo, please."

The door was open so fast he almost couldn't follow it.

Chloe stood there, gaping at him. "Clark? You look terrible."

"Thanks," He said, stumbling forward onto the sofa. "I...ouch."

"Ouch? What's the ouch for?"

"I don't know. My stomach hurts."

Her eyes widened. "You never hurt."

"You think?"

"God, um, take off you shirt."

"Excuse me?"

"Take off your shirt," she stated firmly, blushing brightly. "I...let me get a look at you."

"You're an M.D., now?"

"Just do it." She said. "Did you, oh genius intergalactic traveler, think to X-ray yourself?"

"Um no?" He said, shucking off his t-shirt onto the floor. He glanced down at his stomach and then at the floor. Any inappropriateness of the moment was totally killed by the fact that he was about as attractive as Shamu right then.

"Clark?"

"What?"

"I'm going to need you to actually look at your stomach and looking at me wouldn't hurt either."

"Oh."

She sighed and put a hand to his stomach. "It's fine Clark...I'd never care about that. In fact you-"

"I what?"

"Oh my god!"

"Oh what now? I'm dying. Your healing power has upgraded to foreseeing my imminent death."

"No, you moron. Connor's kicking."

"What?"

"You idiot. You read twenty different books, but you forgot about the descriptions of kicking."

"Well it hurt?"

"It's kicking, Clark."

"Nothing hurts me," he countered, looking up at her.

"He does." She said, the awe evident in her voice. Her hand grazed over an area right below his belly button. Clark squinted and was able to watch with equal amazement as Kon kicked against Chloe's hand.

"Oh wow."

"That's what I said." She smiled. "I can really feel it."

"Tell me about it."

"No, really. Patty upstairs in legal was pregnant last year and I touched her stomach a few times. This is a lot stronger." She removed her hand and even with his normal vision, he could see the foot pounding away against his skin.

"I...oh God."

"Clark?"

"He's already stronger than he should be, isn't he? I...if it hurts me, then this same thing would have put a human girl in the hospital."

"A human girl isn't carrying him," Chloe reminded him not unkindly.

"I...I didn't want him to be like me, Chlo." And fuck it. Stupid fucking goddamn Kryptonian hormones. Now he was really sniffling.

Double fuck.

"It's okay, really."

"He's going to miss out on so much because he'll be able to hurt people like Kara and I can."

"But you don't hurt people."

"I...it's a good thing I didn't get Lana pregnant, isn't it?"

Chloe smiled sadly and let her hand rest on his stomach, smiling every time she felt Kon kick. "Maybe. I guess this is the way it's supposed to work. Well, now we know what'll happen to Kara."

"Kara's joining a convent."

"Right. I...this is way beyond smoking cool, Clark."

"Not if it were your maybe-kidney." He said, smiling faintly.

"No, this is amazing." Chloe replied. "Now you can feel him too."

"Oh boy, can I."

"You're not dying."

"No."

"Good then. Why are you here?"

"What?"

"Why aren't you at home. I know Lana's in town. She dropped by an hour ago for mochas."

"She wanted me to go to ISIS, to have an overnight."

"Jesus, Clark."

"That was my reaction. I...you should have heard her. She wanted to keep us there, said that's where we belonged."

"Clark, she said it wrong."

"I...maybe she's right. God, we're both freaks."

He was not expecting the slap across his face. Chloe cursed and held her right hand over her left, letting a rose colored glow spread across it.

"Fuck, that hurts."

"You broke your hand."

"It's fine now," she replied. "You don't ever get to say that about my nephew or about yourself ever. You're, for lack of a cheesier term, miracles." She smiled self-deprecatingly. "You two are amazing, and I love both of you."

He smiled sadly back at her. "As the best aunt ever."

She nodded and grabbed for his hand. "I...of course. I'm sorry the lab talked scared you."

"I just can't stay overnight. Labs scare me so much, Chlo. In the daylight with Kara and Lana, it's not so bad, but alone with just Schwartz? I was so scared. I just ran."

"It's alright. You don't have to go anywhere."

"Thank you."

She sighed and leaned back against the sofa, still keeping her hand on his stomach. "You feel cold."

"Do I?"

"For you, I mean. You're always really, really warm, like feverish. You seem almost normal temperature now."

"Oh."

"How are you feeling? You mentioned the heat vision problem last week."

He nodded and sighed. "My speed gave out on the way home from Metropolis today. My temperature must have been normal then because the doctors didn't comment on it."

"How long was it out for?"

"A few hours. I had to walk a few miles from the county line."

She nodded. "You have to tell your mom and Kara. You should probably tell Lana before it just gets sprung on the doctors and they collectively orgasm to experiment."

"Chlo!"

"You know what I mean. If something glitches as a surprise in the lab, they'll be all over you and then you really will overnight. You can't hide this forever."

"I...they're going to worry."

She sighed. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Clark. We're all already worried about you."

"I don't want to lose my powers."

"You won't."

"I don't want to get sick."

"It'll stop in four months."

"I...you think he's okay?"

"You're the one with the hawk eyes and the sharpest ears in town. How is he?"

"Healthy as always, same heartbeat and lots of movement."

She smiled. "Kon's fine. I...we'll talk to Martha tomorrow. It's going to be fine."

And then, Chloe proved that saying anything like that in Smallville was a death sentence.

"I'm telling you, Olsen, all you had to do was spring out of the dumpster and catch Mayor Let My Pants Down with his newest flavor of the week. But no, you slipped on a banana peel and whoa!" Lois, who was covered in what looked like spaghetti strings and garlic.

Jimmy looked equally as bad and he still had half a banana peel in his curly hair.

"Lois!" Chloe squeaked, hopping across the futon and tossing Clark his t-shirt. "It's not what it looks like."

Lois smirked. "So Clark's not pregnant."

He burst out into hysterical giggles and it wasn't even an act. "Okay Lois. I know you worked for The Inquisitor and that your version of news used to be 'special,' but that's just nuts," he finished, pulling on his shirt and crossing his arms over his waist.

"Please," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that stupid. I mean, sometimes I miss things, but Daily Planet's finest, you know?"

"So you're stoned now?" Chloe asked breezily.

"No, but there was that time he totally barfed in the basement break room and he never does that, and then there's the weight gain and this is Smallville and weird shit always happens. Plus, you were totally feeling for a kick."

"No I wasn't."

"Oh please. Plus, he's been extra moody even for Smallville." Lois shrugged. "I had no idea you were a meteor mutant."

"I'm not." He said shortly.

Jimmy's eyes were wide and when he finally spoke, he managed to top Lois. "I had no idea the men had the babies on your planet."

Everyone in the room froze.

It was Chloe who found her voice first. "What?"

Jimmy glanced at Lois and turned beet red. "Oops."

"Oops! What do you mean 'oops?'" He shrieked.

"What the Hell? When did I slip into the Outer Zone ?" Lois asked.

" Outer Limits , Twilight Zone ," Chloe corrected. "Jimmy what did you just say?"

"I...uh, well Kara might have mentioned that-"

"Oh I am going to kill her." Clark growled and then leaning back his head shouted, "Kara Kent! You better come here right now or I'm making you sleep in the barn. I mean it!"

It took her less than five seconds to show up in The Talon apartment. When she came to a stop, only Lois jumped.

Jimmy was completely casual about her apparating act.

"Kal...um, Clark, what's going on?"

"Oh, that cat is so out of the bag."

"Cliche!" Chloe added.

"Oh, Kara will be giving you that coffee." He said, deadly calm. "You told Jimmy."

"Told him what now?" Lois asked. "Because so far, the best I can guess is that you and Kara are part of the more unique Smallville population and she's a little nuts if she's been telling people you're Vulcans."

"Kryptonian, actually," Jimmy offered.

"Kara, how the Hell could you do that?" Clark asked, surging to his feet.

"Excuse me?"

"You told Jimmy and you didn't ask me about it at all." He glared at Jimmy and let his heat vision flare. "How long have you known?"

"Whoa, wait? This part's true?" Lois asked, staring between him and Kara.

"You have a problem with it?" He snapped.

"No, I always knew you were weird. I mean, Kara's cool and has amazing taste in everything. Hah! I knew higher life forms would appreciate the genius of WhiteSnake, I just knew it!"

That was possibly the scariest thing Lois had ever said.

"I...oh crap," Jimmy said, slipping behind Kara. "I...she might have mentioned something about six weeks ago. I, oh, I don't want to finish this sentence."

Clark's eyes widened. "You're sleeping with him."

"Oh wow, Lois look at the time. I think we have an elsewhere to be." Chloe said, trying to push her cousin to the door.

Clark's voice dropped an octave and he spoke deliberately and slowly. "No one is going anywhere. Kara, you've been sleeping with him."

She narrowed her eyes at him and put her hands on her hips. "Well, there hasn't been that much sleeping involved."

"Oh god, he's going to kill me. I'm going to be splattered into little pieces."

"You were sleeping with my baby cousin. What did you think was going to happen when I found out."

"If I remember correctly, Kal-El, it's the other way around," Kara repied haughtily.

"When did you start?"

"When you started back up." She snarked.

He blushed. "Excuse me?"

"If you can go back to sleeping with that bitch, then I can sleep with Jimmy. At least he loves me."

"Lana loves me."

"Lana's using all three of us and I fucking hate her."

"So you revenge fuck Jimmy?"

"Hey!" He yelped.

"No, I've been dating Jimmy for almost a year, minus that whole amnesia thing, and I can tell whomever I want."

"No, you can't. God, we have to be more careful than that."

Chloe's eyes widened and she cursed under her breath. "Oh Clark, you really walked right into that one."

Kara strode across the room and pointed right at his stomach. "You wouldn't know anything about that. You were screwing like rabbits with Lana for weeks. You got yourself knocked up, and then you let her recruit a whole team-a Rao-dracu team to study us like animals. You let her tell a half dozen people we'd never even met, and you did all of it because you wanted to get laid."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. You've screwed all three of us over. You've turned me and my nephew and yourself into lab rats because Lana told you to. You can't stand there and lecture me about who I can and can't sleep with and you sure as well have no room to yell at me about secrets."

"I...it's different."

"I wasn't going to tell him." She said. "I wasn't planning to sleep with him this soon."

"Um, you don't need to go into more details, Kara," Jimmy offered.

"Oh, I do." We were coming home late from a club called Atlantis.

"Jimmy Olsen got you into it?" Clark asked, surprised. Kal'd had no trouble charming security but Olsen?

"No, I did. Hello? I'm hot. Anyway, it's a rougher neighborhood than I thought and we got mugged, and Jimmy did something stupid."

"Hey! You said it was brave."

"Well, yeah, but you almost got stabbed too," She shot back.

"Almost?" Chloe prodded.

"Yeah, that would be where me and the speed and the invulnerability come in. I jumped in between the creeps and took care of them and Jimmy saw. So I told him."

"And then you jumped into bed with him?"

"Don't even. You couldn't leave the dining room table fast enough and I could fucking hear all of it. My boyfriend almost died and then I reveal everything and he's so overjoyed that I'm not dead that he kisses me. How many people do you know find out there significant other is an alien, and then don't freak out or call the National Guard or get garlic or something."

"That's actually only for vampires." Chloe offered lamely.

"You see my point. At least we are careful."

"That's not fair. I didn't do this."

"Really, because I might be rusty on my xenobiology but I'm pretty sure I know how Kon happened."

"I...couldn't." He said, closing his eyes. "I...you should have told me more than you did."

"I'm sorry."

"Lana does love me. She's like Jimmy."

Off to his side, Olsen snorted. "I'm not a vixen in training."

Lois chuckled. "I'll say." Then added, "Wait! I thought you're the mother. Isn't there some, um, guy out there?"

Clark stumbled back to the sofa and crashed down on it. "No! God, what the Hell? I'm the dad, technically. Why would you think I'm gay?"

"Pathological fear of mine and Chloe's boobs," Lois said, shrugging, as nonchalant as if she had this conversation regularly. Hell, she had worked for The Inquisitor, maybe she had.

Oh God, The Inquisitor.

The Planet.

Lex.

"God, Lois, you can't tell anybody." His voice was shaking as he said it and shortly both Kara and Chloe were sitting on either side of him. Apparently, his cousin's anger had pretty much drained out of her. She had one arm around his shoulder and Chloe had hers draped protectively across Kon.

Lois, for her part, looked pissed. "What?"

"You...you can't tell anybody. If you put it in the paper, they'll..." Oh God, what would they do? They'd take Kon away from him. They'd put him and Kara and his son in little, tiny cages and never let them see daylight again.

Oh God, Lex would...oh God, it would hurt.

But Lois would be famous.

"You have that little faith in me, Clark?"

He looked up at her and blinked. She never said his real name. "What?"

"I love your mom and dad. I love Chloe and you're her best friend. Hell, Kara's like the awesome little sister I wish Lucy was and you're like that annoying brother I never wanted but I love teasing."

"Um, thanks?"

"I'm not going to exploit you. I'd never do that."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," He replied stiffly.

The silence after that was probably deafening for even the normal humans in the room.

"Uh, CK?"

"What?" Clark asked, morosely.

"Two things. One, that's not going to happen to me, right?"

"No Jimmy," Chloe said, squeezing Clark in an attempt to restrain him. "That's not going to happen to you."

"Mostly because Kara is so taking orders tomorrow," Clark groused.

"Oh thank god!" Then, realizing how bad that sounded, Jimmy backpedaled. "Not that you don't look great and I'm sure it's all magical and stuff and congratulations, man."

Clark groaned.

"James?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't help. Kal's way too sensitive about the whole thing."

"Well, heh. I didn't mean anything by it. I just...I mentioned you looked good, right?"

Lois snickered. "Olsen, no one ever accused you of being smooth."

"Tell me about it. So, um, is Lana the actual mother then?"

Clark bristled at the implication. However, considering her was five months pregnant, he was both clearly not really human and not really that much of a man either. Sighing, he added, "Yes, Lana's the mom."

"So she knows, huh?"

"Kara didn't tell you everything?"

"Oh, I assumed that Chloe knew, since she does all that covert stuff with you, you know, and I guessed about your mom. But I thought you were dating Lana the way Kara was dating me."

"I am sorry about that," Kara replied to the bitterness in his tone.

"Oh, I'm over it," he said. "But Kara didn't mention the, um, you know," he said, gesturing at Clark's midsection.

"Pregnancy thing. Well, great, she can be discreet."

"Totally."

"This is awkward," Lois said with her usual aplomb for stating the obvious.

"You think?" He snapped.

"Okay, someone totally woke up on the wrong side of the spaceship this morning." Lois snarked.

"They don't have one," Jimmy answered and he was way too disappointed about that. "It would be so awesome if they did though."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Only you would date a fanboy, Kara."

"Better that than a bitch."

"Oh great, round two," Chloe said, sighing.

"Yeah, well, as interesting as that doesn't sound, I have got to ask something myself."

"I don't give interviews, Lois."

"No shit," she replied. "It's not like that. I was just wondering."

"What?"

"Chloe was totally all over you because of the kicking wasn't she?"

"Oh Kal!" Kara squealed-actually squealed and it set his loopy hearing off worse. "That's so awesome." And with that, his shirt was halfway up to his chest and she had one hand planted on him right alongside Chloe's.

"I...cool, there it is again," Chloe said.

"Oh, how I wish I'd never had sex ever," Clark replied, sighing. He really, really missed his dignity. He missed it more when Lois joined them.

"Lois?"

"Shut it, Smallville. I'm all in here."

"Only you would make that poker reference," Jimmy replied.

Kon, as Clark had long ago predicted, responded to his "Aunt Lois's" voice, just as he always had, and started stirring. All three girls "oohed" and "ahhed" and genuinely acted a lot more girly than they normally did.

"So, Jimmy," he asked, forcing a normal tone. "Did you catch the Wolverine's game last night?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, me neither."

"Uh, CK?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to take it personally if I don't, uh, get in line for the touching thing, are you?"

"Please don't."

"Cool. Look, I'm all about the solidarity thing, right, but I just...I'm not touching you."

"Oh please don't."

"Hey!" He said, brightening. "I can totally do pics for the shower."

"Oh that's an awesome idea, James," Kara said, smiling back at him. "I've been meaning to start planning that, but I've been busy with the nursery."

Lois, who, thank god, had some sense of decency or some threshold overload of weird, had stood back up and was now leaning against her kitchen counter. Kara, similarly, had removed her hand, but was still squinting at him, smiling occasionally when Kon kicked.

Chloe's hand was still planted in place.

Clark didn't mind.

He kind of preferred it that way.

"Uh, Kara, about the nursery?"

"What about it?" Kara asked, her tone icy.

"Lana might have, kind of, maybe a little-"

"What did the bitch do now?"

"Hey! Kon can hear you!"

"Kon?" Jimmy asked.

"Connor Joseph Kent," Chloe said, spitting out his middle name.

Lois rolled her eyes. "You've got to be fucking kidding me on the middle name."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Afraid not."

"Okay, so I'm lost," Jimmy replied.

"I'll explain later, Jimmy. I want to keep my apartment intact." Chloe replied.

"I think the name fits well," Kara said, beaming. "Kon-El's going to be his family name."

"Like your, uh, out of town family?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, it's great, right? I picked out Kal's name and then I got to pick Kon's. I am so on a roll."

"Your name is Kal?" Lois asked.

"Kind of. I like Clark better."

Lois considered this. "It suits you better. It screams farm dork."

Clark should have been offended by that, but there was something oddly comforting about Lois insulting him for just being Clark instead of being all freaked out with the pregnant alien on her sofa.

Man, Sullivan-Lane girls were so weird.

Way weirder than him and Kara.

"Wait, you named Clark?" Jimmy asked, blinking.

"Oh, I'm like sixteen years older. It's a stasis thing, totally complicated."

"You really know how to leave the details out of a backstory, Kara." Jimmy replied.

"Tell me about it. She didn't mention the whole 'you might possibly get pregnant thing' until I was already feeling the morning sickness."

"That sucks, man, not that you don't-"

"Yeah, I'm great. This whole thing is great. Man, why does the universe always find new and fun ways to humiliate me?"

"He mopes more like this? You've got to be kidding me." Lois snarked.

"It's a very trying time," Chloe offered.

"And he's kind of a little bitch." Kara added.

"Hey! Language."

"Whatever, Kal. Anyway, what did Lana do to the nursery?"

"She might have already decorated it?"

Kara stood straight up and placed her hands on her hips. "She what?"

"She might have just redecorated a little-"

Kara was gone before he finished, but she'd blurred back so fast that the humans in the room hadn't even noticed her popping back into existence. "Bi...the witch-sorry Kon-painted the whole room purple."

Chloe glared up at him. "She what?"

"Well, I wasn't happy with it either?"

"Kal, can we kick her out now? Please. I'll drop kick her myself."

"No!"

"Why? I checked the attic too. She even got rid of Uncle Jonathan's crib."

"She what?" And now Chloe was mad enough to make even him nervous.

"She got rid of everything we had collected. You should see the room. It's all expensive and purple! Did I mention purple and there's clowns! They're evil! I saw this show and it's all educational and stuff, and in it these guys are traveling the country in this totally ugly car-"

"Kara, honey?"

Clark was proud of himself for not vomiting when he heard that exchange between his cousin and Jimmy Freaking Olsen.

"What?"

"The point."

"Oh yeah, well clowns are like evil and wait to be let into your house to kill people."

Chloe laughed. "I don't think TV is always right."

"But clowns are creepy."

"That's true," Jimmy conceded. "Plus all that make up. Just yuck."

"Clowns, Clark?"

"Yes," he replied tightly.

"I know where the decorating scheme came from. I saw the room." She replied. "I'm with Kara. This is over."

It was Clark's turn to stand up. It wasn't nearly as smooth as he'd have liked it to be, stupid new center of gravity. It was so much harder to be imposing looking like he'd swallowed a bowling ball.

"It's not over. I call it."

"Really?"

"I do!" He said, although he had no idea why he was defending Lana. He'd been furious with her an hour ago. Except they hadn't seen her desperation. Lex had screwed with her deeply. If he lost Kon...he couldn't imagine what Lana must have felt "miscarrying."

He could understand why she hated him.

He couldn't quite figure out why she was still, as the man himself had bragged, obsessed with him.

"Kal, just stop it. I don't want her in my house."

"It was mine first!" He snarled. "God damn it! She's the mother. It happened. I can't take it back and I wouldn't want to because I love him just the way he is, and I love Lana."

"Well duh, all of Metropolis knows that," Lois said. "God, I miss Linda Lake. I fucking hate Cat Grant."

"Irrelevant, Lo."

"She doesn't love us!" Kara shouted back so strongly that the curtains blew in the breeze she kicked up.

It was then that Clark realized how much it had hurt Kara for her to lose her "big sister." The hurt was raw and real in her voice and eyes.

"She does . She's trying. End of story and I am not having the same argument with both of you for the next four months! And another...oh ow." He said, hissing as Kon started kicking again. God, he was agitated. Apparently, he didn't agree with all the yelling.

"Kal?"

"Smallville?'

"CK?"

"Clark?"

God, he had a lot of names, now that he thought about it.

"I...the kicking kind of hurts."

"I'm sorry about that." Kara said, slipping into Kryptonian. She was trying to convey her sincerity and he appreciated that. "But," she continued, "Lana's still a self-serving, rotten, dishonest bitch!"

Clark was really do distracted by the pain in his kidney (maybe?) to snap back at her. However, the light bulb shattering over Lois's head summed up his feelings for him.

Everything stopped.

When the kicking finally subsided and Clark could think again, he looked up and followed the gazes of his friends. Lois was carefully picking the shards from her hair, while Jimmy, Kara and even Chloe were gaping open-mouthed at what had just happened.

Jimmy spoke first. "Really, Kara, you suck at disclosure. You mentioned all the six hundred other superpowers but you leave out the part where you're telekinetic. That's like the coolest one."

"It would be," Kara said quietly, scarily subdued for her.

" Would be ?" Lois asked.

"Except for the fact that we aren't," Clark finished.

Chloe looked between him and then Kon and finally at the collection of glass on the counter. "You might be now."


	15. Chapter 15

15

After his newest display of Kryptonian weirdness, the tension in the room managed to dissipate. It wasn't that Kara and Chloe weren't still pissed. Clearly they were, but none of them wanted to upset him. Even Lois had started jabbering away about some meditation type things she'd learned while learning karate in an effort to keep him and, by extension, Kon calm. He was convinced that 80% of it was general concern.

The other twenty was an effort to get him out of The Talon before he (or was it Kon?) did anything else.

Windows were expensive to replace. He knew that first hand.

They were quite a collection and there were far too many of them for Chloe's microscopic car. Despite the awkwardness of having Lois know , Clark was glad she'd walked in on them. The kicking wasn't painful in a Kryptonite way or even in a being shot kind of way, but it was sharp and uncomfortable and he didn't feel up to speeding when there was a soccer match being staged against whatever internal organs he had. Slouching down into the back seat of Lois's SUV, he leaned against the window and took a few, careful breaths. As agitated as he was, he didn't trust himself not to blow out anything.

It didn't surprise him in the least when Chloe and not Kara was the one who slipped next to him.

"Hey."

He looked back at her and winced a little when Kon kicked again.

"Hey back."

"I gave Jimmy the keys to my car. He and Kara are going separately."

"Oh."

Lois slammed the car door as she slipped into the driver's seat. "Way you two were going at it, I didn't really want you guys together. I also like my car a lot."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I mean, if you accidentally do something, I totally wouldn't hold it against you, but a gram of prevention, you know?"

"Actually, Lois-" Chloe's hand held to his lips stopped him.

As the sound of the engine gunning echoed through the car, she leaned over and whispered. "Lois tends to mangle euphemisms just like Kara. It's a thing."

Despite everything, he gave a weak laugh. "If they took the four of us and just had the D.D.S. or some scientists do the interviews, you know they'd peg Lois and Kara as the travelers, don't you?"

"Until they get a load of my…you know." She replied, giving a cautious glance at her cousin.

After over a year, it surprised Clark that Chloe had never told her father or her cousin what she could do. It surprised him more that Jimmy did know. Of course, if she hadn't known at the time and he was facing certain death with Lana, he'd have been sorely tempted to meet his maker with that one secret between them out in the open.

Not that he'd…well, he wasn't really a metaphysics kind of guy.

Chloe frowned. "How's the kicking?"

"Oh, he's quieter now that there's no fighting. He really doesn't like it. I mean, I know he's not really big enough to like anything, I guess, but it's noisy and our hearing is so sensitive. I just think we're going to need lots of quiet for a while."

"At your house? With Kara and Lana staging a Cold War? Yeah, right."

He sighed and ran a hand over his stomach. "Something has to change."

"Lana could move the Hell out," Lois groused from the front seat. "Naming your kid after Dr. Evil. Has she gone completely batshit?"

"Oh joy, now you can get on the bandwagon with mom and Kara and Chloe," he replied.

"I'm just saying," Lois replied. "Smallville, I ever tell you that you have terrible taste in women?"

"Lois, that's not really helping." Chloe cautioned.

"No, I mean seriously. You have some crazy ass notions about what to look for in a girlfriend. I mean there was Alicia and now there's Lana, who apparently hasn't mastered the concept of divorce."

Clark's hand tensed over his stomach. "I don't want to talk about Alicia ever."

"I'm sorry," Lois replied, her tone contrite. "She turned out to be a much better person than I thought and now that I know you're, you know, 'special,' I can understand why you felt so drawn to her. But she still was a little dangerous."

Clark sighed. That much was true. At her most lucid, Alicia still thought that drugging people against their will was the way to preserve relationships. She'd been desperate when she'd done it and he understood why she had done what she did, still Lois may have had a point about his tendency to get involved with girls with ethics problems.

"Still, Smallville, I just don't get you. I mean you have this hot, smart, incredibly attractive girl who just totally loves you-"

Clark's eyes widened. "You're not talking about yourself, are you?"

"As if, E.T. No, I was talking about Ch-"

"Lo," Chloe hissed. "You really don't have to bring out the protective big cousin thing for something that happened back in our sophomore year of high school. That's just stupid."

Lois shook her head. "Oh, right. My bad. I mean, back in the day you totally had the far superior choice because Sullivan-Lane girls are awesome."

"But back in the day." Chloe said tightly.

Curious, Clark perked up his ears a bit and could make out the rapid beating of Chloe's heart. Now that was interesting, but probably just all the embarrassment. They'd long gotten past the point in their friendship where he'd accepted that she'd crushed on him in high school and she'd accepted that he wasn't in love with her.

So there'd been that kiss at the Daily Planet and she'd saved his life and, in return, he hadn't left her bedside until she'd awakened.

It didn't mean anything.

It couldn't.

She'd loved Jimmy, and now Watchtower was, despite the Black Canary's addition to the team, the favored female member of the Bros. She was just….unattainable.

Plus, she wasn't Kon's mother.

"Yeah, back in the day," He added. "I know the whole thing is complicated."

"Doesn't seem that complicated to me," Lois replied. "But then again, I'm new to all of this."

Chloe sighed, "Well it just gets more tangled from here."

Lois said nothing but cranked up the radio full blast on something annoying and full of head banging, Clark was grateful that she was, even if she hadn't intended to, giving him and Chloe some space. He sighed and leaned his head back against the window. Soon after, one delicate hand was intertwined with his.

He glanced down at Chloe and smiled, "And you didn't reach for the cute and tadpole-y this time."

"Kara says he looks a lot more like a baby now," She conceded. "Besides, I'm more worried about you. It's been really rough today. I mean, if it had just been your speed giving out or Lana again or the exposure or the new power-"

"But it's all of them."

"I know. So, as much as I love my nephew, I thought that you might need the attention right now."

Clark smiled a little, most of it genuine and brought their hands to rest on his stomach. "I think I can share a little."

She grinned back at him. "So you're alright?"  
>"It's a relative term. Nothing hurts right now and Jimmy and Lois seem remarkably okay with everything."<p>

She nodded and then frowned. "What made you go all pensive?"

"Nothing, it was nothing really. Just stupid thoughts,"

"I usually don't let comments like that go."

"I…never mind. It's just something Lex said to me and not in a dropping a massive hint that he knows anything way."

"Then what?"

"I…it's nothing, just silly philosophical stuff. It's not nearly as important as random light bulb explosions or two new people knowing."

Chloe sighed and squeezed his hand. "Whenever you want to talk-"

"I know. Miss Sullivan's column is always open for my letters."

"And how," She said, leaning into him a little. In the rearview mirror, he could make out Lois's satisfied smirk. Huh, well maybe she was just thrilled with whatever drum solo was cranked up because there wasn't anything going on in the back seat, at least nothing out of the ordinary for him and Chloe.

"Clark," his mother said as they entered into the front hall. "Kara and Jimmy just got in." She said it the same way she announced it when the occasional reporter had stopped by the farm during her term as Lowell County senator.

"Yeah, I know." He replied, hesitating a little. "Uh, we have to talk."

His mother quirked her head at him and glanced down at where he and Chloe were still holding hands. Clark blushed, realizing finally that he'd been way too clingy, and slipped out of Chloe's grasp. "What's going on?"

Lois saved him from an awkward explanation by cutting to the heart of the matter. She strode through the door and swept his mother up in a huge hug. "Mrs. K, congratulations on the grandson!"

His mother's gaze was as implacable as always when Lois pulled away from her. "Why, yes, it's been quite hectic around her since Lana started showing, but I'm very excited."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Not Lana. I'm talking about how Smallville has a bun in the oven. That's so awesome."

"I don't understand."

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "Lois and Jimmy know , Martha."

"Clark! How could you?"

"Actually, Aunt Martha," Kara said as she and Jimmy came back down from the upstairs. "I told Jimmy about the whole alien thing before Lois ever figured out Kal and Kon were a package deal."  
>"Kara Kent!"<p>

"Wow and there's just going to be more and more yelling, isn't there?" Jimmy asked.

"No, there is not, but everyone should take a seat and explain to me just who knows what and how." She said sternly.

Everyone followed her orders without question and marched into the living room. Clark wished they had more space. Kara sat down on the window seat and Jimmy sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist in a way that really made Clark want to rip the other man's arms off. Not that he didn't like Jimmy. It was just that now he knew that the photographer was doing things with his (now) younger cousin.

It made a guy overprotective was all.

Besides, they really didn't need another baby in the middle of this mess.

Lois took a seat in the old rocker and he slouched down onto the couch. His mother sat on one side of him, her arms crossed over her chest and her gaze coolly evaluating both Jimmy and Lois. Chloe, as he expected, slid down next to him, letting her hand drift to its permanent place on his stomach. To his amusement, Kon stirred and gave a small kick. It was just enough to be perceptible, but not really uncomfortable. Despite everything, Chloe looked down at his stomach and smiled.

"Smoking cool."

"How much does everyone know and how do they know it?" His mother said, ignoring for the moment whatever had amazed Chloe so. He could understand that. There'd be plenty of time for his mom to be the proud grandma later. Right now, she was channeling her inner mamma grizzly.  
>Jimmy gulped. Somehow, despite the fearsome alien powers Clark had (which included the incredibly embarrassing pregnant thing), Jimmy was more nervous of his mom than he was of him. Clark couldn't blame him. His mom was intimidating. He'd seen her cow Lionel Luthor on more than one occasion and even Lois, who'd grown up with the General, deferred to her commands.<p>

His mom really was amazing.

"Aunt Martha, I told James about six weeks ago. There was an accident and he caught me using my powers and I didn't want to lie. He's been keeping it a secret ever since. Even Chloe didn't know he knew and they're like best friends."

Chloe blushed, and he noticed her hand gripped his stomach tighter. "I wouldn't say that exactly. I mean, Clark's still-"

"I get that Bright Eyes," Jimmy replied. "I can't compete with the seven year head start."

"And Lois?" His mother prodded, still digesting the information.

"Connor's kicking," Chloe replied.

His mother smiled but kept her hands folded on her lap. "That's wonderful."

"Well, it kind of hurts, actually," He groused. "I've never had cramps before, so I just rushed out to see Chloe. I didn't know what else to do and she figured out was going on. We were sitting on the futon with her hand where it is now and Jimmy and Lois walked in and Lois figured it out."

"Then Jimmy managed to blurt out the whole phone home thing, and here we are," Chloe finished for him.  
>"I see," his mother said. Then, she turned her attention back to Lois and Jimmy. "What are you two going to do?"<p>

"Do?" Lois asked.

"This is not going in the Planet."

Lois rocked back a little, but her voice was firm when she replied. "Mrs. K, you took me in when I got kicked out of college, you and Jonathan were awesome and kept giving me job opportunities I never would have had otherwise. Clark and Kara are like my siblings. I'm not doing anything, although I don't promise not to laugh my ass off about this whole thing later."

Kara smirked. "Oh, it's pretty funny."'

"It is not!"

"No, Kal, you totally look hilarious. I mean, it's cute too because Kon's adorable and all, but it's one of the top five funniest things ever."

"Kara, honey, you're not saving up a lot of good will for when you become pregnant."

"That," Clark said, eying Jimmy, "is never happening."

"Okay," Jimmy squeaked back, hiding a little behind Kara.

His cousin rolled her eyes, "Don't listen to Kal. He's just been snippy for the last five months."

"No, I'm completely hearing you, man, I love my arms."

"See, someone around here listens to me."

Lois frowned between him and Kara. "Smallville?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I…okay, forgive the little bit of reporter in me."

Chloe snorted. "We're Sullivan-Lanes, we're reporters all the time."

"Like Aunt Moira," Lois replied wistfully. Chloe didn't say anything, but she did squeeze his hand a little tighter. Somehow, despite everything that had happened on the day of the first shower, despite Lex's mutation and obvious freak status, despite the death of his son's grandparents, Clark's biggest regret was over what had happened to Chloe and her mother.

In some ways, it had worked out well for him and Lois. Neither of them (or Lex) would even be alive if it weren't for the amazing gift Chloe'd been given. However, what the meteors had taken from her had been so much more-her family, her own health, perhaps, one day although Clark refused to believe it, her sanity.

"Anyway," Lois continued. "It didn't occur to me to ask, what with the freaking out and the fighting and the telekinesis-"

"The what?" His mother asked, staring right at him. Clark shifted the way he had when she'd caught him accidentally breaking lamps while superspeeding in the house.

"Uh, well, the fun surprises of Kryptonian hormones. I might have managed to shatter a light bulb in Lois's apartment when I got really upset. I mean, I'm pretty sure that was me."

Kara frowned at him but didn't respond directly. "I had no idea that would happen. Of course, it's not like we had powers back on Krypton. I just…I have no explanation for that one."

His mother frowned back at her, puzzling over what she hadn't said. He'd have bet the next produce runs' earnings that his mother was debating over how much of what had happened was him and how much had been Kon. Clark knew he was asking himself the same question. "Is that the only time it's happened, Clark?"

"It was the first time, believe me. I'd have noticed something like that." He replied, lowering his voice. He'd forgotten how scary it could be to have a new ability or side effect (same difference) pop up. Losing powers was terrifying on its own, but safer. If he kept getting upset and shattering things…well, it had been a very good thing for Lois that he hadn't made the whole overhead lamp crash down onto her.

Chloe smiled back at him and took his hand in her non-occupied one. "We'll figure it out. We always do."

"Kal still can't fly," Kara pointed out.

"Holy shit! You can fly?" Lois asked him.

"I…it was just the once and it was a long story." Then, he glared at his cousin and added, "I managed to outrun a private jet, just so you know."

"Sure you did Kal. Yeah, Lo, I can fly and I do it very well."

"It's awesome!" Jimmy added, that dopey grin back on his face.

"You've been showing off for him?" Clark demanded.

Kara glared back and then went through a list of names, "Dr. Meyers, Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Neidermeyer, Dr. Russell. Do I need to go on?"

"That's different."

"I can show him whatever I want, and, Lois, if you really want to see the flying or the heat vision or the superbreath, you just have to ask. I love it when people are in awe of me."

"The what? Jeez, Smallville, how many superpowers do you have?"

"All of them," He replied glumly, letting his own hand grasp at his stomach. Kon already had more strength than he should and heard better than humans could. And now there was this completely random thing. He sighed. He'd been incredibly selfish to do what he had with Lana. Not that he'd ever trade Kon for anything. He loved his son, couldn't imagine not having him in his life, but it was going to be almost as hard for him as it had been for Clark when he'd been a kid. The strength just made everything so much more complicated.

He wondered if one day, Kon would resent him for giving him some of the same afflictions.

"Clark?" Chloe asked sweetly. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "Just tired. It's been a long day. Uh, you had a question, Lois?"

"Yeah, where's everybody else?"  
>"I have no idea where Lana is right now." Nor did he care to try and listen in on her, which, frankly, he just couldn't do.<p>

"Not her ," Lois sniped and he had a feeling that Kara had found a new BFF in her get the squirrel off the farm campaign. "I mean the rest of your species."

Clark flinched at the use of the word. He knew Lois didn't mean it; she never really meant to be rude. It was just the way she was. Still, it always hurt when someone reminded him that he wasn't really human. It's just that he felt human in all the ways that mattered. He loved like they did. Yeah, he thought, looking over at his mother and smiling a little at his son's movements. That much was true.

He cast a small glance at Chloe.

He could definitely love like humans did.

"Lois," Kara added, not unkindly, "I think he prefers 'people.'"

Lois nodded. "Sorry, you know me and how I insert my foot places it doesn't belong."

"It's fine," he replied, proud at his even tone.

Kara shrugged. "Meh, it is what it is. Don't take it personally, but from my perspective you're all aliens."

"That's so cool, too." Jimmy said.

Yeah, he was such the fanboy, but Clark was momentarily jealous over the enthusiasm. The only parts of his Kryptonian side that Lana seemed interested in were the mentions of his House (which wasn't all that impressive really since it was comprised totally now of just him, Kara, and Kon) and his abilities in particular situations. He blushed just thinking about how much she enjoyed superspeed.

But the rest of the traveler stuff?

His association with J'onn? What was happening to him now?

They all freaked her out badly.

"But where are the others?" Lois asked. "What? Was this like a Lost in Space deal? You're like colonizing or something?" She quirked her head at him and then, after a few intense moments, burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" He asked, folding in on himself a little. Seriously, as sensitive as he was, it was still just the thirty pounds. He didn't look that pregnant yet.

"I just…" She said, between laughing fits. "I had this stupid idea that you'd be the advanced scouts for an alien invasion. Oh my god, how funny would that be? My dad's faced off on all kinds of threats and he'd never see the Flannel King and Little Miss Sweet Corn coming." She doubled over in her fit. "I mean, I get it. Great cosmic powers or whatever, but you two are about as evil and intimidating as a Care Bear."

Clark didn't know how to take that. On the one hand, he was glad that Lois, even with her ingrained military instincts, didn't find the alien with (apparently) telekinesis and incredible speed threatening. On the other, it was a little insulting that she thought he was so incompetent. Not that he wanted to take over the world or anything, but he wasn't helpless either. Clark decided, though, that it really wouldn't make either Lois or Jimmy feel better to know that the AI had imparted its wish for him to be a "god among men" when he was just in high school and that Zor-El almost had ended the world in some crazy bid to start a master race, which, incidentally, neither he nor Kara had been invited to join.

"Well, you know, there's not much of a market in the world conquest bit," Kara quipped. "I'm sorry, but it would be like herding monkeys at the zoo or something, no offense."

"Um ouch?" Jimmy offered.

"Kara, that was mean," his mother reminded.

"Maybe a little," she conceded. "My point is that I'm actually kind of selfish and I don't have time to be supreme overlord of whatever. It's just…I like helping people but I am so not qualified to even run the cash register, let alone Earth."

"Yeah, that's about how I feel," Clark conceded. "Besides, I'd never do that. Kara and I,,,well, you can guess that all we want to do is live lives that are as normal as possible." He glanced ruefully down at his bump. "I mean, besides the obvious. We do what we can to help people and to keep Smallville and Metropolis safe, but we…I don't know if I'm saying this right."

"Aren't really all that different at all," Chloe supplied.

"Except for the kickass superpowers," Lois added. "I guess that means colony, right? You seem to be off to a nice start with Connor."

"Uh, that wasn't the goal either," Clark replied. "I, well you see Lois-"

"There aren't any others," Jimmy said.

"So your parents just sent you and Kara here all alone? That seems pretty stupid to me. How did they know you were going to end up with someone as awesome as the Kents for parents?"

"Technically, my fa…Jor-El had been here before and he'd met my granddad. He'd picked Smallville and the Kents specifically. I just got lucky that I actually landed close to mom and dad."

"But why do it?"

"Lois, sweetheart," his mother said, and now her hand was over top of Chloe's on his stomach. It was kind of funny that a gesture so simple could make him feel so secure.

And loved.

"What?"

"There was a war," Kara finished. "There was a war and the whole planet lost. It's not there anymore. We both left before the end, so we don't know how it all finally happened, but we know it's gone. There isn't anyone left but me and Kal, and now Kon-El."

Lois's eyes were wide. Clark noticed that Jimmy's were not. He had known almost everything except for the pregnancy after all. "Shit, Smallville. I'm so sorry."

He shrugged and tried to be as neutral as possible when he answered. "Thank you. I…I love my mom."

She snorted, "Everyone loves Martha."

"I don't really miss it," He confessed, shooting his cousin a mournful look. He knew she missed it every second. "This is my home."

Kara nodded and she spoke with a grace that he had never given her credit for. "Kal was just a baby when they sent him away. I wasn't it and thanks for the sentiment. So, yeah, every Kryptonian in the universe, except for this crazy robot thing, is sitting right here."

"Oh wow."

"Now you know how I feel," Clark muttered.

"I'm kind of getting the loft moping thing now," Lois replied.

His mother sighed. "So, let me just get everything straight: Lois and Jimmy are now up on everything, Kon's kicking, and your might be telekinetic at least through the rest of the pregnancy?'

"Yes, mom."

"Can anyone explain to me, though, why the nursery is purple and our family crib is not in it?"

Clark sighed and it was forceful enough to make Lois's hair flutter. The reporter grinned, and it was identical to the expression Chloe'd given him the second time she'd ever sped with him (the first time in the Arctic didn't count because she was half out of it with hypothermia).

God, the Sullivan-Lane cousins were so, so weird.

He was kind of glad he'd found them, even if it did make Lois part of the deal.  
>"Can we talk about it tomorrow? It upsets me and when that happens, stuff now breaks and that sucks. Besides, I'm just really tired."<p>

His mom nodded and patted his hand. "Alright, sweetheart. Tomorrow. Tonight I have dinner already and I think I can scrounge up enough for everyone." Clark grinned. Of course she could. His mom cooked like every meal was Thanksgiving.

"Jeez, I don't know if I'm all that hungry…"

All four women in the room glared at him and offered the same order, "Eat!"

Jimmy gulped and look Clark first in the eyes and then in the midsection. "CK?"

"Yeah?"

"Even with Connor, we're outnumbered, aren't we?"

"You'll get used to it," Chloe quipped.

Lana came home at four AM. He knew the minute her car turned down Hickory Lane. He hadn't been able to sleep all that well. The events of the day kept rolling around in his mind and Connor, apparently, was an early, early bird. Figured his kid would like to be up at 1 AM and then onward. He'd never had to get up early to milk things.

Clark sighed and curled a little tighter around himself when Lana tried tiptoeing into their room. "I heard you five miles back."

"Clark?"

He sighed again. "Really, I don't know why you can't remember the whole superhearing thing. I heard you and I can smell you, did in fact from all the way downstairs. My sense of smell was the first thing the pregnancy made more acute, way before I even thought I could be like this."

"Oh,"

He wrinkled his nose at the scents assaulting him-expensive perfume, the scents of easily two or three hundred strangers, champagne, the salty smell of caviar that made his stomach growl a little (and no, he had no idea why Kon apparently liked seafood so much). But there were two smells that lingered strongest on her, those of scotch and of smoke.

And it wasn't of the cigarette variety.

"Where have you been?"

"Does it matter? You're the one who blurred out on me, Clark. I had a fundraiser at which I was representing ISIS. I was going to have my executive assistant go in my place because I'd set aside today for the nursery. But with you being so unreasonable, I didn't see why I shouldn't go out."

"I suppose that's true. Why do you smell like scotch?"

"Of the two of us," she reminded coolly as she slipped into her chemise, "I'm the one who can drink."

"I think I can too," He replied tiredly. "That's not what I meant. You don't drink anything but red wine, Lana. You haven't since you came back from Paris, and you smell like wood fire."

Her face closed up into that rodent-like expression he was growing to loathe. "Are you implying something?"

"Were you with him?"

"No, I was not, not beyond running into him just like I did Oliver Queen or Lucius Fox or any of the other of the country's rich and powerful. He spared a few polite words to congratulate me on how well I've been doing with my pregnancy and then he asked about you. That was it before I moved onto talking with the mayor."

Clark sighed and perked up his hearing. Her heart rate was holding steady. "Oh."

"Yes, I'm not cheating on you. I don't know why you insist that I must be."

Because you want our son to be his .

"I don't know either. I know I'm supposed to look for the best in everybody, and that I'm trying to trust you because it's what Connor needs, but you get home in the early morning smelling like the mansion and I just…"

Lana slid under the covers and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "I'm not having an affair, Clark. I promise."

Clark wanted to take comfort in the earnest expression he found on her face, at the sweet lilt of her voice, but he could not. He had spent six months stressing over Lionel's fate, not because he cared for the man that much personally, but because he mattered to his mother and because he was Jor-El's emissary. She'd known that, watched Martha's pain and despair, and still lied to his face for months.

She'd hidden Casey Brock from him.

She'd never confessed that she'd made love to Lex-and it had been that or whatever twisted Luthorian version that passed as love, he had no illusions about it-after she'd married him.

He didn't know Lana at all, and the version who lived with him now could be cheating on him or she could have been stroking her ego with the elite or even consulting over files at ISIS, also behind his back. He just didn't know anymore.

"I want to believe you. I choose to believe you for Kon's sake, but I just…I am so tired."

"How are you otherwise?" She prodded, changing the subject.

"Kon's kicking. That's why I was having cramps. Chloe figured it out."

"Chloe's a medical professional with years of research at Harvard Med under her belt?"

"No," he admitted sheepishly. "She just reminded me that I have X-ray vision."

"I see. So, he's kicking?"

He nodded, "He's moving a little right now. He's pretty active, but I don't think it's enough that a hu…that you could feel it. My senses are just really sensitive, even more than usual."

"Clark," she started hesitantly. "You were doubled over and really in pain."

"Well, I've never had cramps before. I'm kind of getting used to it."

"But it was strong enough to hurt you."

He nodded and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the pillow beside her cheek. "He's Kryptonian, Lana, and he's spent five months soaking up the sun. His strength is developing first, just like mine did. Only he has a three year head start."

"My god."

Clark shuddered and kept his voice even as he replied. Why did it feel like he was telling her that Kon was sick? He wasn't. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was as healthy as Kara and he ever were. "I know. It's better this way. If you'd been the one carrying him…"

"I wouldn't have made it to term."

"You might have died," he said. "I'm sorry we're like this."

"I know."

He leaned in closer, wanting to draw her toward him. When his mom or Chloe or Kara were near him, he always felt so much better, especially with Chloe. He just…he was scared and confused and he wanted some comfort.

Lana twisted away from him. "Clark, turn around."

"What?"

"I can't get comfortable with your stomach digging into my back. I can do it the other way, but I can't stand-"

He nodded. It was a large stomach, after all, and the bed was so very small. Turning over, he breathed a slight sigh of relief as Lana wrapped her arms over his shoulder. He noticed that she was so very careful not to let her arms move toward their son.

"Will you still be here in the morning?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"I want so much that I can't even convey it to you," he finished. "I want us to be a family like my mom and dad and I are. I want you to listen to me. I want this to be real."

"It is real," she said, letting her hand finally come to rest against his side. "I'm still here. You're mine ."

The possessiveness in her voice was ferocious and he supposed it should have made him feel better. When his mom went all grizzly like that, it always lifted his spirits. However, with Lana, it felt different. With his mother, he knew it was always out of love and loyalty. With Lana, it felt cold and domineering.

God, he felt so cold and empty with her arms around him.

But this was what he'd made. These were the chances he'd taken. Lana was Kon's mother. She was the girl he'd loved and she could be the woman he spent his life with. If only he could change her a little.

If only he could change himself.


	16. Chapter 16

16

When Clark cracked open his eyes, he became aware of two things. The first was that it was late in the morning, probably almost noon by how high the sun was in the sky. The second thing he realized was that someone was ruffling his hair. That part confused him. Lana was always much more interested in his arms and his chest and rarely messed with his hair. His mom sometimes did that, but it wasn't her heart beat echoing in the room.

Looking up from the window, Clark frowned at his cousin. "Uh, hey there."

Kara grinned back and let her hand drop back to her lap. "Hey."

"You usually are more hands off."

She shrugged, "You seemed down and I wanted to come see you. Besides, I've always liked your hair. You had tons of it even when you were really little. It's still almost as soft as I remember."

"See," he said, sitting up with some effort. "It's those stories that always make me freak out."

"I guess."

"You really miss the chubby baby version, don't you?"

"I was looking forward to babysitting. The bigger more sullen version is decidedly less cute. God, who knew you'd grow up to be so moody?"

He offered her a wry grin. "I'm not moody. I'm hormonal, remember?"

"Very clever, Kal."  
>He sighed and rubbed at his stomach. Kon was resting, but his stomach was not. It had been a while since he'd had that third helping of pot pie. "Did I sleep through breakfast?"<p>

"And lunch, technically. I can bring you something if you like."

"I'm not an invalid."

"I was being nice. You can be all on your own if it makes you feel more independent," she groused.

"Oh, thanks for the offer. I'll go grab something in a second. Kara, did you happen to see Lana leave this morning?"

"No. She slunk out of here at about seven while I was busy with cow things. I assume she went to her Metropolitan Lab o' Evil."

He sighed. "Kara, not this morning. If we fight, Kon or me, whoever, is going to make something shatter, and I don't feel like replacing a window or a mirror or something today."

"Fine, but only since your day totally sucked yesterday. I can be reasonable, little cousin."

"Since when?"

"Very funny."

"So, you took care of the farm?"

"Yeah, Aunt Martha showed me how and Chloe even pitched in with the chores."

"She did not! Chlo hates the great outdoors." That was true. Chloe wasn't lazy. In fact, she was one of the hardest workers he knew. However, she was a Metropolitan girl and she did not do farm chores.

"Chloe did help. Jimmy too. Everyone pitched in and I think in a few more days, Aunt Martha will have me trained up well enough to take over from you."

"You don't have to do that right now. I know humans aren't supposed to do that heavy lifting stuff while they're pregnant. However, I'm not weak. I can still do tons of things."

"Never said you couldn't. I just needed to start learning because in about two months, you won't be able to help and we both know it."

He sighed and touched his stomach. "I know. So Jimmy and Chloe mucked stalls?"

She grinned. "It was really funny. I think they pretty much ruined their clothes."

"Oh man."

"Well, it was going okay but then James tripped and it kind of fell apart from there, you know?"

"Are they still here?"

"Yup. They're helping Aunt Martha with something, even Lois came over from The Talon to work on it."  
>"What's it ?"<p>

"A secret. We're surprising you. I'm on distraction duty."

"Because you annoy me the best or because they want you to hold me down?"

"A little of column A and a little of column B," she said. "Kal, I need to talk to you about something and I promise not to fight with you. I don't want to upset either of you."

"Could have fooled me."

"I'm serious. I just have to get my point across though because I wouldn't feel right if I hadn't."

"What?"

She sighed and set one hand on her shoulder. "I heard Lana come home last night, and I heard you guys argue."

"We didn't really do that," He conceded.

"Technically, no. You rolled over and took whatever she had to say. You went belly up there."

"I don't want to fight. I just…I couldn't get into another blow out with her, and it's for Kon."

"Is it?" Kara asked quietly, and her tone was the same reserved one that had awed him last night. Sometimes he honestly forgot that Kara was probably smarter than he was or, at least, she'd had a far superior education and survived a war.  
>"Is what?"<p>

"Are you trying to hold this all together for him?"

"Of course." He replied, sighing. "I've gone through this for you about twenty times in the last six weeks. Kon needs a mother and Lana is his mom. I can't just shut her out of his life, especially if he hasn't even been born yet."

"Kal, did you ever think what it'll be like after he's born?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"I'm serious."

"Of course."

"How much thought did you actually put into it because, seriously, if the fighting bothers him now enough to shatter glass, what's going to happen when he's in his cradle or when he's a toddler or my age?"

"I'm not following you."

She sighed and squeezed his shoulder a little. "My father didn't love my mother."

Clark looked down at his hands to avoid her gaze. "He loved mine."

"Yeah. I didn't know it. I don't know how I didn't. Maybe I always suspected, but I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to realize what was happening right in front of me. I knew they weren't happy with each other. I'm not stupid, but I never knew why. Alura-"

"Who?"

" My mother."

Clark swallowed. It occurred to him that over the past year, he'd pressed Kara a hundred times over for details about his own mother and even about Jor-El, but he'd never once asked her about her own family. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything. Zod did."

"No, I haven't been a very good cousin. I know I've taken it for granted that you're happy here."

"I am happy here. I love you and Kon. Lois and Chloe are fun, and I might one day make a life with Jimmy."

"But it's not your home."

"No, it's not, but I don't have any other choices, do I?" She said breezily.

"Kara, I know I get a little self-centered-"

"You're a lot self-centered, but that's kind of a family trait, actually."

He grinned. "I might have noticed, but I just wanted you to know that if you ever want to talk about home…" He paused then and took a breath. " Our home, I'll be here to listen. You can tell me about your mother or what your school was like or anything really. I do care that you lost-"

"Everything." She said quietly. "Thank you, but I'd rather not dwell on it. I can't change it and I don't want to loft mope like some other Els I could name."

"Oh,"

"Yeah. Kal, my point is that my mother loved my father desperately. She tried so hard to get him to love her back, and all they did was fight. It wasn't Lara's fault. I'd never blame her for that. She didn't want Zor-El harassing her at either. Still, as much as I didn't want to see it, I noticed them fighting."

"I don't see where you're going with this."

"It's a miserable way to live. There's nothing but tension and anger. I lost track of how many times I saw my mother cry. It would have been better if he'd left her."

"Why didn't he?"

"We don't divorce."

"Oh, so it was like a negative image thing? Kind of like no one ever got divorced like back in the fifties?"

She shook her head. "No, Kal, it's not like that at all." She replied, smiling sadly and holding out her arm for him to see. On her wrist was the bracelet she'd been wearing ever since he met her. "This was Lara's."

"I saw it on her, in your memories."

"Yup. She gave it to me as a present. I think she might have suspected what Zor-El was going to do. I think it was intended to be yours, to be given to you if you came of age before they could find us."

"And then everything happened and now I guess I'm more than of age and they're not coming."

She nodded. "You could have it."

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "It's yours now. Besides, I have one of my own in the loft."

"That's not possible," She said flatly.

"You don't know everything then, Miss Sweet Corn. The Kawatchee were visited by one of us five hundred years ago and he left a bracelet like yours for whichever Kryptonian ended up on Earth. I've had it in my possession for years now. I, uh, never figured out what to do with it."

"You're not wearing it."

"I'm a guy, despite my body's conspiracy against me."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know what it's for, don't you?"  
>"Professor Willowbrook gave it to me and told me it was for the girl I was destined to be with."<p>

Kara nodded. "That's exactly right. We have these bracelets and they're like wedding rings, but they're permanent. Once you give one away, it's binding."

"Legally or metaphysically?"

"A little of both, actually. We're not Martians. We're not psychically sensitive; it's just not something we can do, but we're still different from humans."

"You think?"

"Even if we were all under a red sun, Kal. We're sort of made to pair off. It's who we are."

"And Zor-El did that with your mom but it was the wrong choice."

She nodded and her voice wavered when she replied. "I don't think so, considering I like being alive. However, it failed. The whole thing was a mistake and what it left behind was a mess, the kind that ends with a Manhunter dragging your family out into the night."

"I am sorry about J'onn."

"I know. You don't have to be sorry for anything with me, little cousin, except your crappy taste in women."

"Oh now you and Lois have been consulting with each other."

"Maybe a little. I'm just saying that I grew up in a family just like the one you're about to start. My father was in love with another woman and all that left was conflict and frustration. Don't put Kon through that."

"Lana does love me."

"She came home smelling like the mansion. I can't be the only one who noticed that."

"She swore she hadn't been there and her heart didn't speed up; she didn't get clammy. She was telling the truth."

"Why did you insist on this even when logic says otherwise?"

"Because Lana deserves a family."

"Maybe she doesn't."

"And maybe she does. We're orphans, the lot of us. I have mom; I know I do and I love her more than anyone except for Kon, but you know what it's like. There's always longing. The shower took her parents. I can give her something back."

"That's guilt, Kal-El. You can't build anything on that."

He shook his head, thinking about every meteor mutant he rounded up for Belle Reve, every human he'd ever helped. You could build a lot on guilt. You could build a whole career of vigilantism. It wasn't just him either. Oliver started being the Green Arrow in part because of held over guilt from Duncan.

The shower, everything that had happened, wasn't why he loved Lana. He'd felt drawn to her long before he'd known what he was, but he couldn't take Kon from her now, not after what he'd cost her and not after realizing what it must have been like for her to lose the baby she thought she'd had.

"I'm not building anything on guilt. I owe her and I have to."

"You're a fool then."

"Fine." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and grumbling a little when he realized how stupid they looked resting on the swell of his abdomen. "Are you done, because I've gotten my lecture of the day?"

"Yes," she replied tiredly. "I'm only here partly to try that voice of reason thing you won't listen to."

"Then what else have you got up your sleeve?"

She smiled and slugged at his arm in a way that showed him that she was spending far too much time with Lois, as if the hair band fetish hadn't been a massive clue. "Well, Aunt Martha and all the other aliens we hang out with have been working really hard on that surprise I mentioned."

He snorted. "Only you would phrase it that way."

She smirked. "I'm a brave explorer/colonist/barista on a strange extraterrestrial planet."

"Yeah, Jimmy's a real fearsome E.T. there, Kara."

"He's pretty great though. I mean, Rao, he is just the hottest-"

"I get it. Please don't say anything more about Jimmy Freaking Olsen."

"You're just jealous because he has slept with Chloe."

"I don't care who Chloe sleeps with."

"Right, Kal." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious." He said, getting onto his feet and groaning a little at the effort it took.

"Uh-huh, I totally believe you," She chirped before she started out the door.

"Come on, Kara, give a guy a little time here," He said, ambling after her and almost bowling her over when she came to a stop in front of the nursery. "What are we doing here?"

Kara smiled, "Take a deep breath."

He frowned but sniffed deeply, the stench of drying paint assaulted his nostrils. "Did you…is that paint?"

"Duh, you were probably so out of it that you didn't even notice," She replied. "Go on, open it. I promise you that it's so not purple." Kara's grin was inviting and he eased open the door and felt a smile of his own spread across his face. The nursery looked just like he'd wanted it for weeks.

He wasn't sure what color Kara had technically decided on. She'd been in a three way headlock between butter, saffron, and sunshine. It all looked just yellow to him, despite all the spectra he saw, although he really hoped that she'd settled on sunshine. It seemed fitting for all of them. The walls, however, were not only yellow. There were two wavy lines that ran through the center of each wall, like a cheap version of chair molding-one a royal blue and the other a deep crimson.

Turning his head to the left, Clark watched as Jimmy finished adding the touches to that wall. Apparently, photography was not the only art that he could produce. Olsen had created a farm scene on the wall that ran against the toy shelf. It was just a small glimpse of a red barn with a calf, a pony, and a golden retriever puppy in the foreground. When he looked right, he grinned even wider. There was a matching mural on the wall that opened up into a window seat. That image was beautiful and familiar on a level he couldn't explain. It depicted the same crystalline spires of the world on which he'd been born, glinting under a dark red sun. The three half moons in the background completed the image nicely.

"Jimmy, wow."

The photographer turned to face him. His clothes were covered in paint and he had a bright splotch of auburn (probably for mini-Shelby's fur) on his cheeks. "CK, hey, I'm not quite done yet. I was thinking of adding ducklings."

"No, it's really nice."

Lois, who was busily working on putting an assortment of little golden books into the shelf, coughed. "You know, Smallville. We can't all be Rembrandt. Some of us had to do that boring actually paint the walls bit, too."

"Well thank you then, Lois." He replied, his eyes still raking over the room. The wall directly across from the door was covered in one large quilt that Chloe was helping his mother hang. She must have been making it ever since he told her he was pregnant. It, too, depicted life on Kent farm, but it was a patchwork of the little yellow farm house with that same, frustrating old tractor parked in front of it. "Mom, you get a wow too."  
>Kara grinned at him as she stepped past to drive the nails Chloe was struggling to hammer in into the wall with her thumb. "Isn't it just amazing? Aunt Martha and I went out and bought the fabric the day you told her you were expecting. I've been waiting to see your face for weeks."<p>

"I…well, it's really great. I think dad would have liked the tractor addition." He snorted, "I bet the imaginary one runs better."

"It probably does," Chloe conceded. "Hey, Kara, you have the height advantage. Could you please show him the good stuff?"

"There's better stuff?"

"Oh yeah." Kara replied, as she grabbed a corner of the quilt and hovered up a few feet in the air. As she did it, it forced the quilt to peel back, revealing the hidden image underneath. "I did this one. I was never that much for art, you know? But I didn't think James could get it right, either."

"I think you did great." He said, eying the crest she'd painted onto the wall in the same crimson shade Lois had highlighted the walls with. She'd chosen the version of their House symbol that was etched into her bracelet and Clark was grateful. He was learning to like his House and the part of him that was connected to Kara and to Lara, but he couldn't have stood the ancient sigil of their family on the wall. It had been burned into him once, and he couldn't bear to look at it every day in his son's room.

But the sign that his mother had cleverly disguised on the wall?

That felt as right as the skyline Jimmy had painted.

"You guys," he said, proud of himself for not doing anything stupid (read: girly) and sniffling. "This was just what I wanted."

Chloe nodded and walked into the center of the room where something large was covered in an old white sheet. "We didn't have any lead available, so you're going to have to be on the honor system."

"I hadn't actually thought about cheating," he said.

"Cool," she replied, pulling the sheet back and his jaw dropped. Somehow, she'd found his father's crib and she'd taken the time to polish it up to a high shine. Laying inside of it were Norman the cow and Harry the hippo and one, small green alien that Clark was pretty sure was from the movie Toy Story .

Cheekily, he reached into the crib and grabbed the alien toy. "Cute, Chlo."

"That was my idea," Lois replied. "I think he's much more attractive than you, Smallville."

"I like you too." He groused. "I…Chlo, really, how'd you even find it?"

"I have connections all over Lowell County and do you know how many leads I've tried tracking down in the county dump?"

"Do I want to?"

"Probably not, but Ernie owed me one and he was able to find the last day's trash pile pretty easily. The crib was in good shape, but he helped me reattach one of the cracked legs and your mom and I worked on polishing it up." She grinned back at him so hard that he could count all her teeth. "Do you really like it?"

"I love it. I was so scared it was gone," he said, leaning over to give her a quick hug. He noticed that same annoying smirk was back on Lois's face.  
>"Well, as much as I love the big Walton family moment, I have a deadline," Lois said.<p>

"Chloe? Does that mean you have to go?"

She shook her head. "I had a small lead on a racketeering ring in City Hall that I fed to Perry. I didn't quite have all the proof so he's checking it out for me."

"You're feeding him now?" Clark asked.

"No, but I heard a few things, and he knows everyone in this town…we work well together." She said, shrugging. "Best part is that Jimmy and I already scoped out the site and there's a pic waiting to go for when the Pit Bull puts all the pieces together."

"So you're saying?"

"We have a day off."

"Kind of," Jimmy groused. "If you count horse stall mucking out and painting as taking it easy."

Kara smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well, then. I think you're both due for a little fun."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't, Kal. You absolutely adore me because I am the best cousin ever."

"No, you really aren't," He grumbled as he eyed the ledge of the drop-off into the swimming hole. Despite what he was pretty sure he could do-after all Kara was like a freaking eagle in the air-he still didn't like heights all that much.

"Come on, you baby," Kara huffed, taking slipping out of her jeans and t-shirt. She was wearing that should-be-illegal string bikini she'd won Little Miss Sweet Corn in underneath. Clark tried very hard to ignore the way Jimmy was drooling. He really was too talented to rip have his arms ripped off.

"Kara, I really don't want to do this."

Chloe rolled her eyes and started tugging at the corner of his t-shirt. "Come on, humor her."

"No way."

"I painted most of the room for you."

"It took you 30 seconds."

"But I was bored for all thirty of them. Kal, come on," She whined. "I read about this in a book and it's a bonding thing. See, we take a picture now and then when I'm pregnant and you look all GQ'ed out, we'll take another. It's a comparison thing."

Clark groaned but still shucked off his light blue t. "But we're not supposed have proof of this. I mean, this pretty much screams alien , doesn't it?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Not with Belle Reve nearby." He tried moving his hands lower toward Kara's ass.  
>Clark narrowed his eyes and let his heat vision flare. "My condition's not that delicate. You keep your hands where I can see them, JO, or I'll be forced to break them for you."<p>

"Kara!"

She rolled her eyes. "Kal's all talk."

"Pretty much," Chloe conceded. "He's just all about blustering."

"Good to know," Jimmy said, pulling out his camera. "Okay, guys, right here on the ledge where there's still a lot of light. In the shade's just no good."

Kara nodded and struck a pose Clark was pretty sure that she'd picked up from watching too much America's Next Top Model. "Coming, baby cousins?"

He shook his head and sidled up next to her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders. "Both of you," he said, shooting Chloe a look. "Are way too thrilled about my continued public humiliation."

"First of all," Chloe said, as the first flash blinded him. "It's not humiliating, it's adorable. Second, we actually have a professional on board with us, and he is going to document everything. Even if no one can ever be allowed to see it, we're going to keep a baby book for Kon. All these pics of you are priceless."

"I don't think," he said, freezing long enough to force a smile for the next shot. "…that Kon should see these until he's a lot older. I don't know how to explain this."

"Universal butt monkey," Jimmy offered, setting down his camera. "That's about a dozen. I think that's good for now. By the way, CK, you have a preference for whether color or black and white for the shower."  
>"Oh jeez, do we have to have one."<p>

Kara nodded. "I'm starting the plans tonight. I haven't figured out how to break the news to Ollie, but we are so telling him something because there's no way I am passing up the chance to have a billionaire spoil my littlest cousin."

Jimmy frowned. "Ollie would give his ex-girlfriend's most hated acquaintance expensive baby gifts?"

"Our lives are complicated," Kara said, pulling off his camera and setting it carefully in Clark's hands. Wrapping her arms around him, she smirked. "Ready?"

"Huh, for what?" He squeaked.

"To jump!" And with that, both of them had splashed into the water below.

Chloe laughed. "Kara does know that it's only 65 degrees. Jimmy's not going to get hypothermia, but he's going to be awfully cold."

"Well, there are some advantages of being Kryptonian. This? This is pretty damn warm if you ask me."

"You don't get uncomfortable." She reminded as she sat down on the ledge and let her legs dangle over it.

"No," he conceded, sitting down next to her, "But I like the cold better. Summer's overrated except for the sunlight." He sighed and laid down on his back, spreading out his arms. It felt wonderful. He could hardly remember the last time he'd had a day just to relax and he definitely couldn't remember the last time he'd spent outside, enjoying the sun. A small wave of flutters spread through his stomach and, after shifting his vision, he was amused to watch his son twist a little towards the welcoming ways.

It took about five seconds for Chloe to settle her head on top of his stomach. "You look a little like one of those seals on a rock on the Discovery Channel."

He sighed again. "You know, when you and Kara get pregnant, I really am going to make fun of you."

"Don't be so sensitive. You know this is awesome. Besides, you still look almost the same. I mean, there's this," she added, turning her head and resting her chin just slightly below his chest. "But all the farm stuff and the speeding you shouldn't have been doing, has pretty much kept your arms and everything else like normal."

"You still said I looked like a seal."

"A happy seal, a nice rock-sunning seal, or possibly a kangaroo on his back."

"Well I still think you look a little like a chicken. You totally have a beak there, Chlo."

"And you practically have a pouch," she said, jabbing at his stomach a little with her pointer finger. "You seem really happy today."

"I am. I mean, Kon's not active yet, which is great because, you know I love him, but I'm not all up for cramps right now."

"No one is," she reminded.

"Okay, and there's no weird telekinesis and the nursery is just like I wanted it, and it's not even about the colors or the furniture, even though I can't thank you enough for saving my dad's crib."

"If I can bring you and Lex back from the dead, I can find a piece of furniture, no problem," She replied.

"Still means a lot to me."

"I try."

"I know, but it's not that the nursery looks great-and it does-it's that you all got to do it together. You and mom and Kara and even Jimmy and Lois. Kon's going to be living in a room that his whole family made just for him. It wasn't even the color scheme I hated the most about the room."

"It was total vintage Luthor," she pointed out.

"That's true, but I hated more that she'd done it without asking any of us, that she'd just assumed she knew best. It was a family thing, not just a 'what Lana wants' thing." Chloe sighed and turned her head again so that her right ear was flat on his stomach. "You can't hear him."

"I know; I'm just getting comfortable."

"Well, I hope you are," He replied, letting one hand stroke idly over her hair.

"Oh definitely. You're slightly squishy."

"I'm getting a new best friend, just so you know."

"Good luck finding one. There aren't that many traveler groupies out there."

"Oh, good old JO and I can hang out. He's totally gone on Kara and I think a lot of that is his inner Star Trek dork coming out."

Chloe sighed. "He really likes her, you know. He kept her secret the way I kept yours-well enough to even fool you. It's the real thing, Clark, and it's not because he's impressed with her powers."

"But he does like them. Lois too."

"You say that like it's a surprise."

"You have an ability, Chlo. You don't go advertising yours, either."

"No, I don't, but neither of us want to end up in 33.1 permanently either. Still, my gift's amazing. I loathe having to die to use it, but what I can do is unbelievable. What you can do is better."

"Yeah," he added nonchalantly. "I like the male pregnancy one best."

"Kara's right, you are a baby."

"It's just…I am glad she has him, even if I'm going to find some kind of chastity belt for her."

"Good luck with that one," She chirped. "Is it that hard to think that we can love you as you are?"

"'We?'" He asked curiously.

He could hear the blood rushing to Chloe's cheeks. "You know what I mean. Lois, your mom, and I, we all care about you for who you are."

"Is this another one of those, 'why do you put up with it' rants because Kara beat you to it this morning."

"Maybe," she admitted. "I think part of why you've been so happy today is because you actually got to be outside."

"I was thinking that."

"No one was ever meant for a lab, Clark."

"I don't live at ISIS."

"You've come awfully close over the last few days to doing just that, but that's not what I mean. You spend so much time there, deep underground and under the artificial lights. Trust me, I work in a dim, dank basement and that's not good for a human's health, let alone someone who is solar powered. Lana's trying to find some-I don't even know what-magic bullet to insure you two don't die in all of this."

"See, that makes me nervous. Kon and I are going to be fine. Also, you make it sound like she's all possessive of us or something."  
>"No, you did that. I don't think that Lana's doing anything like Lex would. I don't think it's about some weird scientific interest. I really do believe that she's trying to have control here, like she didn't have the day of the shower."<p>

"But?"

"She's not really thinking about what either of you need." She said, burrowing a little into his side. "This is probably doing you a hundred times the good of another blood draw and I don't even want to know what."

"You do know, don't you?"

She nodded. "I can hack a database and cover my tracks better than she can. I know what they've been doing. I just never brought all of it up because I didn't want to embarrass you, but, honestly Clark, I knew what kind of tests she'd choose."

He blushed and was infinitely glad she couldn't see him. "Well, I'm pretty sure those kind of exams are necessary too. Awkward as Hell, but-"

"I know, but the point is that this is the best for both of you, just being left alone."

"Maybe."

"Definitely," she replied firmly. "Kara told me she didn't come back until late, that she smelled like Lex."

"She smelled like alcohol. She's not cheating on me…us." He said, tracing one palm over Connor.  
>"Maybe, maybe not, but you shouldn't take her back."<p>

"Chloe, you didn't hear her. Losing the baby-even if it never existed to begin with-crushed her. You can't know it; my mom would, but you can't. I…if anything happened to Connor, I don't know what I'd do. I don't think I could survive it. Fuck, I can barely stand not hearing his heart when they take blood. She lost her family, Chlo, and I'm not even talking about Kon's grandparents. I mean, she had a child and he took that away."

"Which makes perfect sense for the naming stuff."

"I can pretend to understand her most of the time, but I understand loss, and I know how much I love my child. If it had been me…if I'd lost my son…I can't take her family from her. That would make me no better than him anyway."

"Clark, she doesn't even want to be a part of the family."

"That's not true."

"Okay, so maybe she wants to be with you and Connor, but she doesn't want to be added to the House of El at all."

He flinched. "I know that. I'm not blind. I just can't take Kon away from her either. She doesn't even know that she can't have a child. It's a fluke, but this is the only way she's ever going to have one."

She picked up her head and glared at him. "Your mom can't have kids."

"Believe me, I know," he said, clutching his side. "I hate this sometimes. It's not fair that neither Lana nor my mom can do what I can. God, I'd trade anyone this in a heartbeat."  
>"It's not about guilt. Your mom has you and Kara and Kon and she's happy. My point is your mom isn't related to you by blood but she's still your mom. You, of all people, know that giving birth…it's not the only way to be a mom."<p>

"Or a dad," He added wryly. "I know, but I still want to give her this."

"How many more chances?"

"What?"

"How many more times are you going to let her make a fool of you? How many more hurtful things is she going to be allowed to say? How many times will she be allowed to treat you like a thing ?"

He bristled at that. "I'm not. Kon and I and Kara we're not things."

"Oh please, I'm a meta with the market on resurrections cornered. It's not about that. You know I could never think of you like that. I think you're so amazing."

"I know," he replied, fumbling. He never knew what to say when anyone, usually Chloe but now Lois and Jimmy, gushed over his gifts. To him, they were mostly just things he'd learned to live with.

"But every time Lana makes a decision as if you were impaired or inhuman."

"Which I technically am the latter."

"And you know that you're actually smarter than I am."  
>"Not really."<p>

"A lot really."

"I do things with math in my head. I can memorize anything. It's not the same. I don't see the angles like you do. I don't have the street smarts Lois does. I don't have the geekboy knowledge Jimmy's accumulated. I'm not better."

"No, I'm not going to exult you either. My point is that every time she undercuts you like with the nursery, she is treating you like some kind of plaything and you know it. You wouldn't have been so furious yesterday if you didn't."

"I know and I am made, believe me. I just want to give her this chance. I want to give her a family. This wasn't supposed to happen. I mean, I don't think my birth parents or Kara or any other Kryptonian ever would have thought we were compatible. Something this impossible happening has to mean something, doesn't it?"

"I can't stand by and watch this forever."

"Not forever. She's not even immortal."

Chloe sighed and when she spoke, her tone was subdued. "Only we get to talk about forever and mean it. You know what I mean, one day soon she's going to push too hard and no matter what you want, we're all going to kick her off the farm."

"Wouldn't that be disrespecting my wishes too?"

"Nah, that would be mostly your mom kicking all kinds of ass. She's allowed to do that."  
>"Maybe. Chlo, it's like I told Kara. Just trust me, just this once. One more shot and then I promise I'll pack her things myself. I just can't give up. In ten years, I couldn't look Kon in the eye if I hadn't tried this hard. If things fall apart, he's going to demand that I tell him why his mom's not always around. What can I say to that?"<p>

"That she was obsessed with another man? That she couldn't handle how special you two are?"

" Different ," He corrected, bitterly. "Chlo, I've got this."

"No, you really don't."

"Then, fine. I don't, but I'm trying and I'm going to give it one last shot for Kon and for her."

"Fine," she said, sighing. "You know, you do feel better. Your warm like you're supposed to be."

"Yeah, I think the sun really is helping with that. I haven't felt bad all day. Maybe the glitches won't happen again."

"And maybe they will. You know Martha-"

"Is busy trying to salvage the political career I almost ruined with an unplanned pregnancy."

"Well at least the polls don't know you're the one expecting," Chloe added honestly.

"Small favors," he replied, stroking her hair again. Chloe squirmed a little and he laughed. "I didn't know you were ticklish."  
>"Only a little."<p>

He played with her scalp again and grinned when she squealed. "Oh, I think a lot."

"Maybe," she gasped out in between giggles. "Not playing fair, Kent."

"Don't have to," he replied, slipping into superspeed and springing the full force of his fingers on her. She was rolling with laughter when he finally desisted. "Had enough?"

"Yes. God, I need a power to use against you." She said, blinking wide green eyes back at him.

Something fluttered in his stomach that was definitely not Kon.

You already have one.

"Maybe you can try playing with the meteor rocks some more and we'll see what happens."

"Right," she said, laying her head back down on his stomach and yawning. "I love my days off."

"Me too." He said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. God, everything was perfect-the warmth of the sun, Chloe's head pillowed over Kon, the joy still buzzing inside over the nursery. Yeah, everything was great and then Chloe took her head off of its rightful place. "Hey, I need that there. It's keeping me warm."

"First, likely story and second, I'm not the one who moved first."

"What do you mean?" He demanded, opening his eyes. Clark tried to sit up when he realized what had happened but only succeeded in bobbing a little in mid-air. "What the Hell?"

"You didn't mean to do that, did you?"

"Of course not. I, um, used to float a lot when I was a freshman in high school. I've never been any good at controlling it. I was just so relaxed and I wasn't thinking."

"Happy thoughts make you float?" She asked, barely covering an amused smirk.

"No, stupid alien hormones make my powers go nuts." He said, trying to sit up again and only managing to roll over instead. "Oh man."

Chloe sighed and patted his shoulder. "Do you want to yell for her or should I hop on down to get Kara myself?"

"I'll yell for her," he said, twisting a little and at least managing to swing back onto his back. "This is so embarrassing."

"I think it's kind of funny. I mean, look on the bright side. If we can't get you down, you can always be in the Macy's Day Parade."

He narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest out of principle. "You are the worst friend ever, Kitty Pride, and I do hate you."

Chloe's voice grew quiet as she spoke. "No, Stitch. You love me."


	17. Chapter 17

17

"Do you have a hoola hoop?" Lois asked, as she eyed him from across the living room. Somehow, the universe had been generous enough to maneuver it so Lois got a lucky break on a taxi cab robbery in midtown and that she was back out from Metropolis in record time.

Clark sighed and let his arms rest over his stomach. He was actually kind of digging the arm rest that Connor made. Kara had come to his rescue, so to speak, and she'd helped drag him back to the farm house. Her own patience and not a little bit of effort had at least gotten him into a sitting position. He just happened to be sitting two feet above the sofa instead of on it.

"Why do we need a hoola hoop?"

"For flare?"

"Huh?"

"I'm getting all these David Copperfield flashes. I mean, it looks like an illusion. If I could just run the hoola hoop around you, then I'd know there were no wires."

"There aren't any," he sniffed.

"Oh man, you're not going to whine about this are you?"

Clark sighed. "I might a little."

"CK, why? This is so cool. Didn't you ever want to be Warrior Angel when you were little?"

Clark shook his head at Jimmy. "Actually, I wanted to be a fireman until I was nine. I used to have the biggest fear of heights."  
>Kara smirked, " Used to."<p>

"It did get better," Chloe defended. "He used to get all sweaty palmed, metaphorically speaking, looking out the loft window."

"Okay, so I might have a big problem with heights, but I still never was all that interested in flying."

"Lame," Kara replied. "This is the best." And with that, she hovered at shoulder level with him and beside him on the sofa.

"Okay, so now we're kind of even," Chloe conceded. "That's three on the ground and three not."

"It doesn't make me feel all that much better," he replied.

"Clark, really, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's only been twenty minutes. I thought that with the solar flares in high school, these things came and went. It'll probably be gone in an hour tops." Chloe said and he was grateful that she'd not mentioned the glitches out loud. He didn't want to worry Kara if he could help it. He'd been spared from worrying his mom since she was out running errands at Fordman's that evening.

"Logically, yeah, but I kind of miss the comfort and security of the couch cushions."

Jimmy shook his head, "I trade with you. Seriously, it's hard not to be a little jealous with you and Kara showing off. You guys get the best superpowers," He finished and Clark noticed his subtle look toward Chloe.

Yeah, Jimmy Olsen really was quite the fanboy. Despite the fact that the idea of any guy hanging all over his younger (now) cousin pissed Clark off, he was glad that if it had to be someone, it was he.

"Of course," Clark replied. "This is just a blast."

"It looks fun," Lois offered.

"Oh, it is," Kara replied, bobbing a little. "Yeesh, Kal, if you weren't so slow, you'd be down by now. It's just a thinking thing. You want to go down and you land or, in your case, fall."

Clark closed his eyes and concentrated. He imagined himself shifting downward until he touched the sofa. When that didn't work, he scrunched his eyes up tighter and just imagined falling flat on his ass. Neither approach helped much. Opening his eyes, Clark shrugged, "Or maybe it doesn't work that way."

Kara shrugged back and, not for the first time, it occurred to him that her gestures mirrored his. "Well, I've never been pregnant and powered so what do I know?"

"Mark this down, Chlo." Clark started, smirking a little. "Kara finally has a day where she admits she doesn't know everything."

"Oh, I don't think you want to bait her, CK. She's scarier than you are."

"Not really. She's just-"

"Oh my God!" Lana called as she opened up the kitchen door and marched into the living room. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at the new arrival. "I think it's pretty obvious what we're doing."

"You know what I mean," Lana replied, casting a contemptuous glance at Lois and Jimmy. "How long have they known?"

"Long enough," Kara snapped back.

"Oh jeez, can we not?" Clark asked. "Kara do me a favor and just set down, would you?"

"Why?"

"Because you're the one who actually can. Land for me by proxy, okay?"

Kara glared at him before acquiescing. Sinking low onto the sofa, she sighed. "Fine, little cousin, but only because you asked."

"Why are they even here?" Lana demanded, still gaping at Lois and Jimmy.

"I…well, remember when I mentioned the part about Kon kicking?"

"Yes."

"Jimmy and Lois might have walked in on Chloe and me trying to figure everything out. It was a little obvious when they barged in what was going on. I mean by Smallville standards, at least."

"You saw Clark's stomach and you just assumed 'pregnant?'" Lana asked, her gaze leveled at Lois.  
>"I worked for The Inquisitor for over a year," She replied. "I have an open imagination, which is apparently a must have in this family. However, it was a lot of things. Smallville's been off for almost five months. But the E.T. phone home thing was a new one. Olsen supplied that one."<p>

"And you knew how?" Lana pressed.

"I told him," Kara replied. "If you can tell half of the Metropolis medical community's most unethical citizens than I can totally tell my boyfriend. He loves me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It wasn't an ambiguous statement," Chloe replied coolly. "Clark, should we leave you two alone for a minute?"

Clark smiled wryly. Chloe sometimes didn't even need for him to say anything before she guessed (exactly) what he needed. "Yeah, Chlo. I'd appreciate that. Kara, can you leave for a while?"

"I could do that."

"Would you and would you not eavesdrop for once?"

"I don't make any promises," She said before hopping up and walking over toward Jimmy. "If you need anything, Kal-"

"I'm good," he said, tipping forward a little and then cursing under his breath. "Besides the obvious. My balance sucks a little."

"Try not to make any sudden movements," Chloe added before she, Lois, and the rest of them started out the door to the barn.

Lana waited until the door clanged shut before she walked up to him. It was a distinctly odd sensation. Hovering as he was, set him at eye level with her, which had never happened before. It wasn't that he necessarily liked looming over her, but it kind of made him feel like he had even less of an edge than he usually did when dealing with her. Plus, he felt about as stable as a rubber duck in a bathtub.

"Do you have to do that?" She was looking toward him but not quite at him. Following her line of sight, Clark could tell that she was concentrating on a point just off to the side of his left shoulder.

He dropped his head and looked down at his hands. "I'm sort of having a problem right now."

"Problem?"

"I just started up with the floating about half an hour ago and I didn't mean to do it. I can't make myself come down yet. On the plus side, Kara's like 99% sure this won't last an hour."

"I didn't know you could defy gravity."

"I can't voluntarily," he corrected. "Although, to be fair, I haven't floated since I was in high school, either."

"Oh."

He looked up at her again. As uncomfortable as he was about everything, he refused to have a conversation while neither of them were making eye contact. He was at least going to try and be heard. "We need to talk."

"Obviously. Is there anyone else who knows about what you are?"

He bristled at the way she phrased her question. "No, just Lois and Jimmy, and I had no idea Kara'd told him as much as she had but there's not anything I can do about it now."

"She told him about my son?"

" Our son and no. Jimmy didn't know about Kon, and he didn't even know for sure that you and Chloe knew too. She really just told him about Krypton." He sighed and ran a hand through his bangs. "She has a point. He's a lot less dangerous to have in on this than the team you found."

"He works for the most famous newspaper in the country."

"And he's had my cousin showing off her powers for him for over a month. Neither he or Lois are going to do anything. Mom already made them promise not to."

"I feel so much better now."

"He's a lot more trustworthy than Schwartz and company."

She put her hands on her hips and finally looked him square in the face. Maybe anger helped her deal better with her squeamishness, after all. "We've gone over all your ISIS hang-ups a dozen times, Clark. How immature are you going to be about all of this?"  
>"I'm not being immature. Everyone, even mom, thinks I'm being naïve, but I'm not immature. I have a ton of legitimate reasons not to want to go to ISIS and, honestly, I'm not going back to doing it the way we have been."<p>

"Excuse me?"

"I know that Kon needs care, and I understand that ultrasounds and blood work can be important."

"They're crucial."

"But I don't need strength testing or hormone levels every day. Kara doesn't need to be a part of this anymore. You have almost four months of data on her. You've seen every fluctuation, every everything there is to see. She's not coming back to ISIS at all."

"What?"

"If she comes, it would be the same way mom would or Chloe. She can come if she really wants to be moral support but she is officially off the table."

"Where's all this coming from?"

"We had a huge fight," He admitted, although he skated around the part where it ended in shattered glass and a display of fledgling telekinesis. "She told me that every time she goes to ISIS, she feels like a lab animal and she's not wrong."

"No one's hurting you."

"It's degrading," he replied. "My mom was right about that. It's not the kind of thing you put the people you love through."

"You listened in?" Lana asked and she'd gone startlingly pale. It gave Clark the impression that there were things she didn't want him to hear her doing in Metropolis.

"Just the once. I'm not Kara. I don't like to invade peoples' privacy ever, but I can't say I appreciate people going behind my back either. Look, I know that this is as high risk as it gets. I'm not stupid, but I also know that there's really only so much any of them can do or learn. I also know that a human woman," and he choked a little over that last part. "Would only be going once a week for a sonogram and maybe some blood work. That's all I want to do."

"But you can't."

"Why can't I?"

"Because you need to be monitored." She insisted, the volume of her voice rising.

"I understand that you're scared," he said calmly. "But my mom's right. There's only so much they can do. You can't control this and you can't control me. If I don't want to go, there's not much you can do to get me there."

"So what? You're going to spite me and be petty and put Connor's health at risk?"

"He's fine," Clark replied. "I know this because I can hear, see, and feel him in a way no human could ever do. He's healthy and strong."

"So you've said."  
>"Not even in a superstrength way. He's thriving and I've felt better today, just soaking up the sun, than I've felt in months at ISIS. I want to protect our son, but the best way I know to do that is to keep me healthy and I'm healthiest when I'm on the farm."<p>

"But you should be in the lab."

Clark's head snapped back and he wobbled in mid-air. "I know you don't realize how that sounds to me."

She tilted her head at him curiously. "How does it sound?"

"I know you mean it because the lab to you means nothing more than a hospital visit or something, but it's not like that for me at all."

"How is it? Explain it to me because I'm not getting it," she replied, her tone clipped.

"I'm an alien," he said and he watched her purse her lips.

"I'm aware of that fact."

"It's pretty obvious today, isn't it? I mean, it's not just being more than five months to term. It's the floating too."

"I know what you are."

"But you don't understand what it means. Most of the time I try not to let it mean anything. I don't want to be what I am, didn't ask for it. I don't love it like Kara does. I'm getting better about accepting it and it's taken years to get as far as I have, but, as much as I don't want to admit it, there are parts of who I am that change how I see everything."

"And?"

"Hospitals scare me. They always have, even though I've never really needed one, but labs are so much worse. I know that to a lot of people, if they found out, I'd just be the alien and the lab really would be the only place I'd belong. I spend a lot of my time terrified that the wrong people will find out about me and now Kon and Kara. Maybe they already have."

"Schwartz is not-"

"I don't know that for a fact. I know only that you've tried to make him harmless. But it's not even about the doctors. Those words, that it's where you belong scared me. That's why I ran. I don't want to spend months on end in a lab. I don't want Kon to keep going there for check-ups and tests of his own after he's born. I just want to be involved with ISIS as little as possible and, frankly, if natural childbirth with some towels and Kara's lack of expertise didn't scare me worse, I'd never go back to ISIS at all."

"Clark-"

"No, I'm not doing it. Once a week, a sonogram and that's it. They'll do whatever it takes in the OR for the birth and then that's it. We're done. If you can't handle that, then we're not going any further."

"You can't get unpregnant."

"No, but I didn't mean that we weren't going any further with Kon. I meant that there won't be an 'us,' anymore, Lana."

"How dare you. You always complain to me about ultimatums and threats and now you're leaving?"

"Actually, I couldn't move if I wanted to," he replied. "However, it's not a threat. I've given and I've given and I've given and all that's left me is long days in ISIS. I can't see most people anymore and I know in a month it will be suicidal to leave the farm. But I spent the months I wasn't showing locked away and it was a mistake."

"So threatening me with leaving is the answer."

"It's not a threat. I'm tired, Lana, and I can't go through with this anymore. I can't do it for four more months and, Kara's right, I can put Kon through this kind of fighting either. But I don't want you to go either. I love Kon more than anything, and I love you."

"Because I'm his mother?"

"Because I've loved you since I was five. Because I've always loved you and because you're going to be the other most important person in our son's life. I listened to you in the nursery. I was hurt and incredibly angry-I'm still not happy about what you did by a long shot-but I also heard what you said. I've known about what he did for a long time, but I couldn't understand it. I could be disgusted by it and upset for you, but I couldn't really get it."

"But you do now?"

He nodded and let his left palm rest across the expanse of his belly. "I couldn't bear to lose Kon. I can barely survive the blood draws and the not being able to hear him for ten minutes at a time. I understand how devastated you still are."

"And?"

"I want to give you the family you wanted, but I don't know if I can. I can give you what I have. In fact, I've given you all that I do-all my secrets, my home. Hell, my body too now. And, as much as this sucks, and as fucked up and as unfair as it is, I'm giving you a son."

"I know."

"But I'm a Kryptonian and Kon's partially a Kryptonian, enough to make a difference and we already know it. The family you have now loves you-"

"Kara doesn't."

"She'll come around." He hedged. "But the family you have isn't completely human. We're also not the cream of Metropolis high society. If you want a human family," he said and his voice was thick with bitterness as he spoke, "…then you can throw your lot in with him or with the dozens of other eligible bachelors you probably know because of your work with ISIS."

Lana's eyes grew wide and her voice assumed that old cajoling lisp, "I don't want you to leave me."

"Then don't keep doing what you've been doing. Don't cut me out of things like with the nursery. Don't try to make me into Lex or Kon into the baby you lost. We're not."

"I know."

"No, you don't seem to, but I hope that you can. I love you and I want this to work. I couldn't live with myself if it fell apart and I didn't keep trying. I couldn't cost Kon a full-time mother like that, but I can't keep rolling over and letting you treat us like property either."

"So what are we going to do?"  
>"One more shot, Lana. It's more than mom or Kara would have given you, but I have faith in you, too, but if you pull something else like with the nursery, if you try to force Kara back into more experiments, you will have to leave the farm. I'd never keep Kon from you, but you couldn't live with us, either."<p>

Lana still stared at him, slack-jawed, and then something flickered in her eyes. She'd come to her decision. She leaned across the expanse separating them and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him then and it hadn't felt that passionate between them since that honeymoon period which had led to Kon in the first place.

God, except for the six days after they'd named Kon, Clark felt like he hadn't been touched in so long. He'd missed this, missed her. The kiss deepened and Clark fell hard back onto the couch. Pulling away, he ducked his head self-consciously. "I guess we fixed one problem."

She bent down and kissed him again. "I hope we fixed more than that."

He grinned then, relieved, although his happiness was hampered by hearing his cousin call him "dumbass" all the way from the loft.


	18. Chapter 18

18

His mom had called in the late afternoon to tell him that she'd gotten hung up on an errand to Metropolis. Apparently something time sensitive had upset the constituents and she'd had one of her aids call her in a panic while she was shopping at Fordman's. Clark didn't mind too much. The floating thing was over at least for a while and he had a lot to negotiate on the farm with just Lana and Kara. Jimmy, Chloe, and Lois had had the common sense to go home after Lana and he had finished talking.

Well, he was pretty sure it was Chloe as well as Jimmy's natural aversion to the awkward that had prompted their exodus. He was pretty sure Lois would have stayed. She and Kara together were just going to make the rest of everything that much more difficult. Actually, it was a little scary watching the way his cousin and Chloe's had glared at Lana. He had no idea that learning Kon's middle name would have set the reporter off so much.

On the plus side, his cousin had reached new and, decidedly, improved levels of immaturity-she wasn't speaking to Lana. Alright, knowing Kara, she was probably saying a lot of things but just out of his earshot. At dinner that night, she'd carried on a perfectly pleasant conversation with him in Kryptonian. Not that he'd answered back in anything but English. He could speak it; he just didn't prefer to. Plus, he had this minor fear that the Fortress's download was a glitched as everything else about it. He had images of just mangling the tourist version of Kryptonian he'd probably learned.

Oh and Lana did that squirrel face thing every time she heard it.

However, as far as Cold Wars went, having Kara talk around Lana was so much better for him, Kon, and the glassware of Kent farm. The shouting matches were going to have to go.

After dinner, Kara had watched as he and Lana had done the dishes together, not that they'd gotten all that far. There'd been a lot of touching and just silly things. The kind of antics, they hadn't really gotten into or even been relaxed enough for since his human summer. The third time, Lana had found a flimsy excuse to kiss, Kara made a gagging noise and announced for both their benefits that she was spending the night at Jimmy's.

Clark really hadn't had an argument for that one. He didn't really like the idea of his younger cousin having sex, although he had the distinct feeling she'd felt the same way during the weeks before Kon had been conceived. Hell, she probably felt that way now, judging by her glacial attitude toward Lana.

Even Clark could see the hypocrisy in trying to put limits on her relationships.

Still, he loved his cousin and hoped that this wasn't the start of some trend where she spent her nights in Metropolis and he spent his on the farm.

When the door slammed shut behind Kara, Clark sighed. "I'm sorry about that."

"She's rude. I've noticed," Lana replied, standing on her toes to put a glass in the cupboard's shelf. "It's not your fault, she apparently learned everything else but manners on Krypton."

"She's just angry. I think the nursery thing really set her off."

"It wasn't her nursery."

He sighed, "I know, but I just think it will take some time before she trusts you again. I'm sure she can't hold a grudge forever. I mean, maybe literally she could, since we're pretty long-lived, but I think she'll get out of her snit eventually. She's pretty back and forth like that."

"Maybe," She said, reaching over for the dish towel. "About that?"

"About what?"

"Are you really sure that you don't age like the rest of us?"

Clark kept staring down at the dishes he was running under the faucet. "J'onn says so and Kara, too. I've had at least two meteor-infected people with some clairvoyance tell me the same thing. I don't get sick and I never get injured except for Zoners or Kryptonite. I don't even think I look all that much different than I did at 18. I just…I think it's probably true."

She nodded and kept her own attention focused on her hands. "Will Connor?"

"I don't know what will happen to him. I don't think he would. Humans all get sick eventually. But I don't know about much of anything with him. I mean, maybe it works even better."

"Better?"

"I…he might not be as affected by the Kryptonite as Kara and I am. He might not even have our weaknesses. I just don't know."

"And I can hear how frustrated you are about that," she said, placing the final glass in the cupboard and turning to face him. "Do you see now at least why I thought the research was a good thing? Connor's going to have all these questions when he's older. How are you going to explain even half of them?"

He shook his head and blew the few stray bangs out of his eyes. "I don't know that either. Right now, he's not quite old enough to even survive being born. I think I have a few years before I have to explain about why we have abilities or why Aunt Kara looks like she's 16 even if she's thirty."

"But he'll want more."

"I want more or I did until Dr. Swann filled in a lot of the pieces. However, I don't think labs and tests are the answer. My mom and dad took me home. They didn't know anything about me except that I clearly wasn't from around here, and they were able to take care of me fine for over a decade. I mean, yeah, I had some weird powers, but things really didn't start going into overdrive until high school. Kon's better off. Kara knows everything about who we are and where we come from. If I can ever trust J'onn again-and that's still very doubtful-he also knows a lot of things about my other family. He'll be a lot less in the dark."

"Still, there's not much precedence for any of this."

Clark sighed and turned off the sink. Despite the Kawatchee legends, he deeply suspected that there had never been any precedent at all for his condition or for who Kon was going to grow up to be. "Then he's a lot like me. There weren't any other Kryptonians raised here on Earth as far as we know. It sucks and it's hard, but sometimes there just aren't all the answers."

"And if we-"

"No," he replied firmly. "Not 'ifs.' We'll follow the great Kent family tradition of winging it. It's worked out pretty well so far," He said, frowning at his stomach. "Or it had mostly until Kara forgot to mention things."

"One day, he'll want to know if he's immortal."

"I wouldn't say I'm exactly that, just that I might live longer. Honestly, we've been incredibly lucky so far. J'onn's giving Brainiac a good chase and he hasn't had time to hunt down me or Kara. But in the last three years I lost my powers, was shot and flatlined, have fought off at least half a dozen intergalactic criminals-one of whom left me impaled, by the way, and now the thing that helped eviscerate Krypton is running loose. I can be injured. I can lose." He shook his head. "I've come damn close every time with Fine."

"You could stop, you know."

"No, I couldn't. The only thing stopping me from heading to Russia myself is Kon. Fine's my responsibility. If I hadn't let him out…it's just, I have to take care of things. Besides and yay for us, my… Jor-El was apparently well-hated. These guys always find me eventually."

"Would they find Connor?"

"I don't know." He replied, leaning back against the sink. "So far, except for Fine, no one's been back since the Phantom."

Lana looked away when he mentioned the Phantom, although, he still couldn't quite blank out the rapidity of her heartbeat. Some days, Clark couldn't convince himself that his doppelganger had been lying about Lana loving him more or be happier with him. "I see, and it's just these things that worry me more. What happens when something figures out about Connor? What happens if being a hybrid-" And Clark definitely shuddered at such a clinical term. "…makes him sick somehow. I just want some control here."

Clark sighed. "I've really wanted that since I got lost in a field the first time I supersped. Despite all that I can do and how strong I probably am, that's the one thing I don't ever get to have. It's kind of just the screwed up way my life works. I know there are so many things that aren't fair in this to Kon. Hell, half of it is all paying off old debts and blood feuds that Jor-El started, but it kind of is what it is."

"You seem pretty Zen about the whole thing. I've never known you not to worry."

"I worry all the time, but I'm convinced that a few-and it is never just a few-check-ups for him at ISIS won't change anything in the long run. As far as who Kon is and what he will or won't get from me, in addition to the strength and hearing, of course."

She looked mournfully down at his bump, "Of course."

"We just we'll kind of figure that out when he does."

"But we could-"

"No, we really couldn't. Besides, and not that I'm avoiding it, but we have a long time to figure out just what to tell him and how. I want him to know about where he comes from, but you're right. I can't tell him when he's little. I was so mad at my parents when they first told me, but it didn't last all that long. I mean, it took me about an hour after the anger stop raging to realize that a six year old telling everyone he's an alien is either a free trip to Belle Reve for a schizophrenia eval or something so much worse."

"At least you have some sense on that."

"But, I don't know…I think there has to be some way to let him know a little. I don't think I can keep Kara completely quiet for long." He snorted. "Maybe we can tell him that we're from of those Eastern European countries that just sort of went poof with the U.S.S.R. Timeline's right."

Lana pursed her lips, "A communist country where everyone makes toast with their eyes and can run 120 miles in about 3 seconds?"

"Okay, so it wasn't a perfect story, but I never said I could lie."

"That's obvious."

"I just…it's all complicated and we don't have to solve it tonight. Honestly, I think just trying to get rid of some of the tension is the only thing we can do right now. Kon's doing well; I can feel it." Lana's frowned deepened and the scrutiny on his stomach intensified. "I think maybe we just need to work on us for a while, and in the normal couple way."

"I thought you were on a not-normal kick."

"Embarrassing and annoying floating aside, not so much. I don't want to pretend that this isn't happening." He smiled ruefully and grabbed the swell of his stomach. "I mean, I didn't just let myself go or something."

"I know."

"But I think part of everything that was wrong…is still kind of wrong…is that it became all about the pregnancy."

"And I love Connor."  
>"Not saying that you don't," he hedged. "But it became about the high risk alien pregnancy a lot more than it was about being excited for a baby. It got warped."<p>

"I'm sorry you feel that way," she replied tartly.

He sighed and took her hands in his. "I'm tired of blaming too. It's not about that, exactly. You promised to do better and I've promised myself and my family to speak up more when I'm uncomfortable and not let things fester."

"What's it about?"

He smiled and brushed her hair back with one hand. "I want us to do things more like other couples would. Can't it be more about stressing about the right toys or about preschool waiting lists instead of doctors and more doctors?"

"I suppose."

"Well, good then," he replied. "Hey, do you want to see the nursery?"

"I thought you hated the nursery."

"Mom and everyone redecorated it."

"They what?"

Some petty part of Clark took satisfaction in her frustration. Now she knew how he'd felt when he'd come home to find a nursery nothing like what he wanted. "It's not anything shocking. It's all the stuff they'd been planning for months anyway, but I think you'll like it. It's not to alien or anything. Besides, we…oh you just have to see it." He said, tugging on her arm slightly and feeling a lot like the excited three year old he'd been long ago on the farm. He'd spent weeks taking his mom around to show her the cows. (He hadn't figured out until later that they weren't exactly all that exciting or new to his mother.)

Lana smiled stiffly and followed him up the stairs. Without hesitation, she opened the door to Kon's room. It was a while before she spoke. "The yellow is nice color."

Well, Clark did appreciate the neutrality. "Yeah, I think it's a very happy color and it's not too bright or anything. Kara called it 'soft' or something. I'm not so good with the decorating stuff."

Lana laughed a little, "Most guys aren't." She eyed the farm mural first and she made the appropriate 'oohs' and 'awws.' "Who did this?"

"Jimmy apparently has taken some art classes at Met U to get his major in photojournalism. He can paint. I know it's not Monet or anything, but it's a lot better than I could do."

"The calf is cute," she replied. "You know, an actual professional painted the old one."

He sighed. "Jimmy's good. Besides, we've all decided clowns are creepy."

"Who's 'we?'"

"Well, Kara and Jimmy and Chloe and then this car show Kara won't shut up about and there was that book It and just clownsare creepy. Cows are happy."

"On Kent Farm I don't doubt that," she said before turning to the other mural and frowning. "Oh, Clark."  
>"Kara chose this one. I hadn't asked for either actually, but this was all her idea."<p>

"Clark, it's a little obvious."

"Not really," he said. "I don't see having anyone else in this room but family and it'll mostly be just the two of us for late night feedings and things." And by us , Clark was pretty sure he meant him. Maybe not though because that thing Kara had speculated on was not going to happen .

What shred of his dignity he had still would never survive that.

"I see, but Clark-"

"But Lana," he replied in the same wheedling tone. "It's not a big deal. I know kids who get Snow White painted on their walls. It doesn't make them a dwarf. And there are nurseries with enchanted forest themes or something. No one ever has to know that it's actually a true life portrait but the family."

"I guess."

"So do you like it?"

"I think I might have been a little premature with the way I did things."

"A little?"

"I still think that purple is a much better color, and some of the dolls I collected were exquisite."  
>"Over-priced and pointless," he corrected. "There's a reason that Norman and Harry are basically Fordman's specials."<p>

"Who?"

Clark blushed. That was right. He hadn't even introduced her to the animals in the crib yet. Chloe'd already went out and made a little color made for each of them, and, even though it was just a hunch, he was pretty sure she was making up a few short stories about them on the side. He found that kind of a relief. He had a feeling that if Aunt Chloe told bedtime stories, most of them would involve Perry and Lionel Luthor or Woodward and Bernstein and Nixon. Not that those weren't stories with villains and a happy ending. It was just that fairy tales were a nicer start.

He couldn't wait to hear what adventures she'd come up with for Norman and Harry. He had a feeling it would probably involve mutants, green rocks, and three headed goats in some way.

"Clark?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I spaced a little," he confessed. "Reaching into the crib and pulling out the animals. See, Norman's the cow and Harry's the hippo."

Lana's face pinched up at the sight of the little green alien that Lois had given him. "And that?"

"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking that Kon could name that one."

"Clark, what's it doing in the nursery?"

"Lois has a twisted sense of humor. I think it's kind of cute, a little insulting since we aren't all little and green, but it's cute."  
>"And these are better than what I found?"<p>

"They're cuddly and imminently breakable."

"Huh?"

"You don't give a baby or a toddler anything made out of porcelain on principle, even I know that one, but, uh, to a Kryptonian child everything might as well be made out of porcelain anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I worked my way through a lot of stuffed animals when I was little. It just takes a nightmare and one hard squeeze and you're picking up stuffing from the carpet the next day. I like Norman and Harry a lot, but I've resigned myself to the fact that they won't stay in tact too long around Kon."

Lana's back stiffened. "Is he going to be that strong?"

He touched his stomach again. Kon was sleeping but when the little guy was active, Clark could definitely feel it. "I don't think he's overwhelmingly strong now. I can feel him and it's uncomfortable, but he's also part Kryptonian and my strength and everything else kind of gets nullified when you throw other travelers in the mix. I was pretty strong when my parents found me, probably as strong as my dad. A few months after that, I could lift five hundred pounds over my head, no problem."

Lana's eyes widened. "I never knew it."

"There was a reason my parents didn't send me to kindergarten," he replied.  
>"Will he be able to hurt me?"<p>

Something sharp stabbed inside of Clark's chest and it had nothing to do with the pregnancy. The truth was that he had hurt his mother several times when he'd been young and hadn't been able to handle his strength. He'd panicked once after a nightmare-hadn't really even woken up from it-and squeezed her tight enough to break two ribs.

He'd been four.

But the thought that Kon's own mother would be afraid of him?

That hurt.

He understood it. It had to be stressful for any human to think about how they'd handle a scared or tantrumming little kid who could break bone without any effort. It could be very overwhelming. Still, of all the things that Clark was sure of in his life (and, honestly, there weren't many), he was positive that his mother had never once been afraid of him, not brainwashed, not on Red K, and certainly not as a child.

"I…" Clark stumbled, forcing the air into his lungs. "Maybe, but I really don't think he'll be that strong when he's still just a baby. My point was that the fragile, pricey, for show toys weren't a good idea. Frankly, I don't see why a completely normal kid would need an overpriced porcelain clown doll either."

"Oh," she replied, her body relaxing, but she still cast a nervous glance in his direction. "I wish you'd told me before you changed the nursery."

He resisted the immature and suicidal urge to snark, "Well now you know how I felt." Instead, he shrugged and placed his hands on her shoulders. "They surprised me. I still think it's pretty good. We kept one or two of the plus clowns—even though I think Kara is cultivating this serious phobia-and the rocker's still here." As was the mink teddy bear he was pretty sure she'd picked up on Sixth Avenue in Metropolis.

No, he had no idea why that was a good idea either.

Rich people were nuts.

"We kept the mobile too," he replied, reaching out to finger the hanging array of multi-colored lambs. Kara'd picked something out with a star theme and had been pissy about not using it. Of course, he'd bartered with her into getting some of those glow in the dark kind for the ceiling. "It's a mix of everything-your stuff, things from the farm, things from my House. You do like it, don't you?"

Lana eyed everything quietly, letting her eyes linger longest over the mural his cousin and Jimmy had created. "Yes, Clark."

"Good then. I…I didn't mean for it to be all different when you got back. I swear that Jimmy and Kara and Mom and everyone else just sprung it on me. Heh, kind of makes me nervous what they'll come up with for the shower."

"You're having a shower?"

"Kara insisted and now that Lois and Jimmy both know…alright, so like seven people is a small number, but it would be nice."

She smiled, "It could be. Do you know what else would be nice?"

"Streamers? I like those but I'm feeling less charitable to balloons lately."  
>Lana chuckled, "No, this," she replied, standing up to nibble on his neck the way she had when she'd been a sorority girl.<p>

Clark struggled to think through the flood of hormones and the rush of blood to places not his brain. "Uh, Lana-"

Her hands moved carefully over his shoulders and back, skating nimbly around his stomach and reaching dangerously close to other places. Clark got a flash of his senior year Gatorade incident and Chloe doing the same thing.

"What?"

"I…" he said, stepping back a little and holding her wrists easily in one hand. "Not that I'm not excited about, well, that and not that I haven't missed you because I have, but-"

"But what?"

"Look, I heard everything with my mom. I know it was rude; we covered that, but I heard her talking to you about how you got me to go along with Kon's name."

"What about Connor's name?"

"You didn't sleep with me in order to get me to stick with Joseph, did you?"

She rocked back like she'd been slapped. "Of course not."

"It's just that you were all really affectionate for like a week and then we went back to-"

"To what?"

"Bed death, really."

"And you spent that time running off to tell Chloe instead of me about the kicking and complaining about the doctors and a dozen different other things. We were fighting."

When aren't we?

"I know, but I don't want to be used for sex." And that sentence, possibly more than the being pregnant part, was going to get his guy membership card revoked.

"I'm not, Clark. Your mother is wrong. I would never use you and I would never use my son like that."

"Our," he corrected. He noticed that was becoming habit.

She nodded, " Our . I just want to make things better and I've missed you too, believe me." She punctuated that by kissing him again and he really hadn't felt that much passion from her since they started having sex in the first place. "Please, Clark?"

He gulped and it took half a second to blur them both into their room. It took less time to have her naked.

Hell, he was only human, mostly, and he'd been so terribly lonely lately.

Clark wasted little time leaning over her, sucking at the pulse point s of her neck and nibbling back, mimicking what she done to him earlier. Lana moaned a little and he could feel her nails trying to dig through his t-shirt.

"Clark."

"What?" he asked, leaning lower, running his agile tongue over her nipples, using one large hand to cup her breast.

"You're still kind of clothed."

"Oh, right." He hesitated then. Not that the t-shirt was doing much to preserve the illusion that he looked anything like his normal self. However, the last time they'd had sex, he'd only gained a little weight. Now he was just so…

Pregnant.

"Clark, really, just go ahead." She said, digging her hips against his.

He nodded and, taking a deep breath, shucked off his own clothes in superspeed. Lana still for a moment, but then she was back to kissing him again-his throat, the sides of his face, deeply on the lips. He was over top of her, angling himself to slide into her, when Kon woke up.

He felt the kick immediately and cursed under his breath. That one kind of did hurt.

Lana stopped immediately. She went deadly still beneath him. "What was that?"

Clark blushed brighter and winced a little when Kon kicked again. He was really active right then. "Kon might be awake a little. It's not really that big a deal."

"I can feel him."

"Well, yeah, he kicks a little…" Okay a lot "…stronger than humans."

"I can feel him doing it now. Clark, roll back over."

"I…come on," he said and he wasn't whining. There was no way that had happened.

"Excuse me?" She said, slipping out from under him and walking over to her bureau to pull out her chemise.

"I just…okay, so that's a little weird and I'm slightly uncomfortable," Of course other parts of him were a lot moreso. "But it's completely safe. I swear. I read at least 20 pregnancy books and there's no reason why we can't do this. In fact, there's even less risk here because, well, he's not…um-"

"He's not getting poked ?" Lana replied.

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds awkward," He replied. "It's fine. Couples have sex while the partner is pregnant all the time. I…it would be okay."

She slid down into the bed next to him. "I can't do that."

"It's because we disgust you, isn't it?"  
>Lana stilled for a second and it occurred to him he'd seen the same quiet deliberation on Lionel's face when he was forced to work with the other man. Sighing, she reached over and placed her hand lightly over his stomach. "No, you don't, but there's no guarantee that this would be safe for Connor since he's so special."<p>

"I…of course."

Lana smiled up at him. "It's fine, Clark. It's just that I don't think we should do this again until he's born. You don't want to put him in any risks that he shouldn't be in, do you?"

"Well no."

"Good then," She replied, pulling her hand away, almost as if he were scalding her. "Then good night."

"I…good night." He replied glumly, rolling over with some effort onto his side.

"Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Other way. I can't sleep with Kon kicking at me."

Welcome to my world.

"Of course, Lana." He said, rolling over again and closing his eyes. Between the rebuff and Kon's kicks, it was going to be a long night.

When Clark awoke, he had just enough time to realize that he was floating again. It was actually the most comfortable he'd been while sleeping since he'd started really gaining a belly. However, the unfortunate part of waking up was the crashing. He had just enough time to twist in mid-air before he crashed down onto his spot of the mattress. His bed was fairly sturdy but it had never been designed for 250 pounds of Kryptonian to come crashing down on it.

It shuddered and then crashed to the ground.

Lana sat straight up and stared at him. Her heart was racing faster than a field rabbit. "What the Hell?"

"I might have had a floating problem again."

"Might have?"

"Okay, definitely. This used to happen every night when I was in high school. It stopped by about junior year, but I couldn't have a bed frame for a while."

"Clark?"

"Yes?"

"What would have happened if you'd landed on me?"

"Nothing good," he conceded. "But I moved fast enough. You're fine."

"Clark, you could have hurt me."

"I didn't."

Lana sighed. "I don't think we should share the same bed anymore either."

"What?"

"If you crash next time, you could break my bones, and I couldn't sleep fearing that it might happen. I think that maybe I should spend some nights with Aunt Nell and maybe others can be couch nights."

"I wouldn't want to put you out like that."

"I wasn't going to be taking the couch. It's not like you apparently sleep on anything anymore."

"Oh." He replied sadly. "I don't really want to not share a bed. I mean, that's not good for the relationship at all."

"Would you squishing me be better?"

"No."

"Good then. Glad we agree," She replied, kissing him on the cheek before slipping downstairs to start breakfast.

Clark sighed and rubbed his stomach. "Kon, buddy, what just happened here?"


	19. Chapter 19

19

Clark woke up to find a familiar and kind of heavy head pressed up against his stomach. He yawned and removed his hand from Shelby's shoulders. "Hey Chlo."

"You didn't show at The Talon today."

"Yeah, jeez, I'm really sorry about that. I finished my chores and then I kind of collapsed with Shel on the couch. The next thing I knew you were here doing your usual 'shower Kon with attention' bit."

"Well, he is very cute," She conceded.

"You only hang out with me for him now. I can tell."

"Well, he probably has the better personality, less moping."

"Kon don't listen to her. Your dad's lots of fun."

"Only if you're Hamlet," She said, scooting next to him on the old loft sofa. Seriously, I waited an hour before I came over here. I thought of heading to Metropolis in case you had an appointment."

"Mondays only. You know this," he said, relieved himself at the lack of presence ISIS now had in his life.

"Then were you stiffing me?"

"Hardly," he said. "I'm sorry, Chlo. I was just really wiped today."

She frowned. "Clark, how many hours are you sleeping a night?"

"About eight, maybe nine," he admitted.

"It used to average four. This isn't good."

"And there's nothing anyone can do about it. So I don't see the point in spreading the news."

"Not to ISIS, of course, but Kara and your mom and Lana all deserve to know. It's not fair to them to keep this a secret. Technically, it's not fair to me since I'm worried sick about it."

"But I can't fix this, so if I can keep it from them a little longer, they won't have to worry so much. I shouldn't have ever told you in the first place."

"No, you should have. I'm glad you trust me this much. It's just that Kara and Martha will find out eventually and it's better for you to tell them than for them to come home one day and find you passed out or to find you struggling to open a jar of peanut butter."

Clark flinched. "It only happened once the last week. So I glitched and had to have Lois open it for me on the sly."

"How bad are they getting?"  
>"It's still about one a day, just different things. Two days ago, I kept sneezing. No barn doors-thank God-but I did sort of sit out in the back forty and away from buildings just in case. Yesterday, I had to finish my chores the human way because my strength was out for about three hours. But everything always comes back. I just don't want to scare them."<p>

"It's time. The exhaustion keeps up like this and you'll be napping nonstop by eight months. They'll notice."

He sighed. "Fine, Kara's coming for the sonogram stuff tomorrow and I'll tell her and Lana then. Mom's got a conference in London until next Friday but I'll tell her as soon as she hits Kansas, okay?"

She nodded. "That's all I ask. Besides, there is still a chance that Kara might know something we don't."

He sighed again. "You'd think my birth parents would have thought to send along information in the form of anything but an insane torture chamber/computer. It would have been nice."

"I know," she said. "So, Mr. Kent, are you two still up for hanging out with the best aunt ever?"

"Kara's vying for your title," he replied. "I think the shower is getting scary complicated. I think there's a moon bounce involved."

Chloe snickered, "A) I reveal nothing and B) Jimmy is helping her."

"Exactly," he said. "Anyway, I'm feeling really well rested. What did you have in mind? I assume you had your coffee fix."

"I have, but I was thinking more big picture. I know that now that you're so far along that you really shouldn't be coming into town."

He glanced at his stomach ruefully. "You think?"

"Yeah, but I don't see why we couldn't go into the city."

"Lex owns Metropolis."

"Then we'll go to Gotham instead. The Wayne Family, what's left of it, runs it and Lex has never had any interests there. Besides, it's Gotham. They have criminals made out of Clay and giant penguin-men. No one is ever going to notice a slightly beer-gutted guy in all of that."

"Slightly beer-gutted?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a girl, Clark. It's a drastic change for you, but no one is going to see you outside of Smallville's weirdness and Lex's laser scrutiny and think 'pregnant guy.'"

He rubbed at his stomach, "It's still getting bad."

"How much are we up to now?"

"About 36 and three-quarters."

"That's a good thing. Really, a guy your size? A baby with the kind of energy Kon needs? You need all the food you can cram in you."  
>"Can't the whole pseudo-photosynthetic stuff take care of itself?"<p>

She chuckled, "You really are overly sensitive, but I knew that. It's fine, Clark. Besides, the bigger Kon gets, the happier the rest of us are."

"Glad to see my health makes you so concerned."

"You're fine and Kon's clearly very healthy," She said reaching over to stroke his stomach.

Clark closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the sensation. His mom didn't reach out to feel Kon kick. Oh, she talked to him a lot and she was always hugging on Clark, but she didn't reach out for Kon that way. Clark didn't hold it against her. He knew she loved her grandson, but he bet it was hard on her to go through all of the pregnancy stuff all over again. Again, he cursed the stupid fucked up universe for making it so his mom couldn't have kids of her own. She was so awesome at being his that he knew she'd have been great with a whole house full of children.

God, he really would have given anything if she could do what he could.

Kara didn't touch him either. She stared at him nonstop, but she didn't touch him. That made him feel a lot better. He liked Kara, really he did, but there were these boundaries he was trying to enforce and he just had never really felt all that comfortable being physically affectionate with her. Maybe if they lived in Georgia or something but less touching was good.

Lana…well she was much better than she had been, but she didn't enjoy it like Chloe did.

Lois, surprisingly, took right after her cousin and made sure to greet Kon up close and personal every time she saw him. But it was Lois and he didn't let her keep her hands there any longer than a few minutes at a time.

But with Chlo?

Well sometimes it felt like her hand was meant to be there.

Clark rolled his head back and, without thinking about it, let out a little moan. "God, that feels so good."

Chloe stopped immediately and he felt her weight shift off the couch. "Clark?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting up and opening his eyes.

"I…nothing. I think we should get going."

Clark frowned and then blushed after he glanced down at his lap. "Oh God. Oh man that's just...I didn't mean to-"

Chloe stifled a smirk. "Well obviously you didn't mean too. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It never occurred to me that the touching thing would do that . I'm just trying to say hi to Kon; I…it's not a sexual thing."

He blushed harder and stammered like he hadn't since high school. "Oh, I totally get that. It's not like a sex thing either. I mean, yeah it is, obviously, but I…it's not like I get off on that. I mean, I don't…it's just…stupid hormones."

Chloe's eyes widened. "They do that?"

He nodded and looked down at his hands. "Not at first, but they've been running rampant for the last month or so. I swear I was really excited just from leaning against the washing machine the wrong way."

What little there was of Chloe's good humor evaporated. "I'm glad I'm just like the washing machine then."

"It's not what I meant. I just…oh, jeez. It's just that Lana and I aren't, you know, and my brain's just saturated with the stuff and I'm already a twenty year old guy. I'm on overload and I didn't…I don't want to make things awkward between us."

"Oh, it's not awkward," she replied shaking her head as furiously as one of those bobble heads. "I should have realized. I read a couple of the books too. I just forgot."

"Well, I think you might remember from now on."

"Oh definitely!" Then Chloe's cheeks turned beet red when she realized how enthusiastic she'd sounded. "I'm gonna go down to the kitchen and do kitchen things for a while. When you're, um, less worked up you can join me. Look, it never happened. I'm just as interesting as the dryer or whatever and we'll still go out to Gotham, mkay?"

"Great," he said, forcing a plastic smile on his face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "It's not your fault. As glitches go that's way better than running out of strength or barn doors or something."

"Yeah." He said sadly.

"What?"

He sighed and pulled a pillow over his lap. "You're not going to stop patting Kon are you? It's just…you're the only person who will do and whom I like having do it. Lois doesn't count at all."

"Lana?"

"Not often. There are other parts of the baby stuff she does like, so I'm not complaining. It's just that I like it, Chlo. I've kind of gotten used to it since I first told you. I really wouldn't want it to stop."

"I…we'll see, Clark. Boundaries, you know?" She said before continuing down the stairs.

He waited until she was gone before he sighed to himself. "Stupid boundaries. Other pregnant people never have to put up with this kind of stuff." Shelby lifted his head from the sofa and snorted in response. "Don't look at me like that. It's not likethat . She's just my buddy."

Shelby, in his infinite wisdom, yawned and closed his eyes again.

He wasn't much of a conversationalist.

"Although, just between us guys, I really don't think of Chloe like a washing machine."

And he knew that, as objectively beautiful as Lois was, that she could rub his stomach from now until Christmas and it would have never earned the same reaction as Chloe had.

God, he was so fucked up.

Looking down his obvious bump, Clark rolled his eyes.

Yeah, he was most definitely fucked.

"So tell me again why we're stopping on Main Avenue in Gotham?" He said, setting Chloe down. It had taken him a few minutes-okay like 30-before he'd been collected enough to finally face her. It was a sad testament to how many awkward moments they'd collected between themselves over the years, that Chloe just smiled at him, picked up her purse and politely asked for a ride on the Smallville (now Gotham) shuttle.

"Because, Clark, sometimes people just need an intervention."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "If this is about Lana-"

"It's not. We can actually agree on one thing, even Lois, and it's that your clothes really suck."

"They do not."

Chloe frowned and pulled on the hem of his flannel shirt. Technically, he did have a large overcoat on. It was December now and Gotham had as rugged winters as Metropolis could. However, he hadn't felt like zipping it up. Hell, he could go around shirtless (not that he would) and it would still feel like a day at the beach would have to Chloe, despite the two feet of snow on the ground. "The holes have holes in them by now and, don't go all girly on me, but they don't fit. They're stretched as tight as they can go now."

"I know, really, and I've been meaning to buy some new t-shirts and stuff."

"Just this once, could you get real clothes?"  
>"These are real clothes."<p>

"These are flannel and that's just yuck, especially with all the plaid. Look, it's not a complete Queer Eye thing but, come on, you're the son of a senator. You can wear something nice once in a while. Even Kara agrees on this one and she's adopted that same creepy love for flannel that all your people have."

"I…well maybe something new." He frowned at the store. "It doesn't look like the kind of place that sells jeans though."

"Jeans I forgot to mention. Your mom fixed something up for you and she left them with me before she hit London. Just remind me to swing by The Talon later."

Clark breathed a sigh of relief. "That's nice to hear because right now mine don't button and they kind of only half zip."

"Don't worry, Martha's really a genius with these kind of things."

"I know," he said, opening the door for her and smiling a little to himself when she passed under his arm. He always forgot how small Chloe was. With Lana, she always seemed fragile and delicate but Chloe was such a whirlwind of energy that he always felt like she was even taller than Lois was.

"Hello," the salesmen, someone even wider around than Clark-possibly wider around than the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons-said as he walked over to greet them. "How can I help?"

"New clothes." Chloe replied.

He eyed Clark's shirt, which, actually had been his dad's long before it had been his. "I don't doubt that."

"Hey!"

"He has a fashion problem. I wouldn't really even call this a look so much as an utter capitulation to the fashion gods. Please fix this."

"I'll see what I can do. Any requests?"

"Red please." Clark replied.

Chloe rolled her eyes indulgently. "Nothing with a pattern and could you please throw in something that's not a primary color."

"But not purple," Clark added.

"Oh never that."

"Chlo, I don't know about this." He said from behind the curtain. The less he thought about the whole shopping experience the better. There'd been tape measuring. He was jumping to conclusions about his attendant, even if the guy had seemed a little fluffy, but there were just places he didn't need a tape measure near.

Of course and on the other hand, the pants really were comfortable.

"Clark, I'm sure it's fine. In fact, based on the quality of the stuff they sell here, I bet it's better than fine. So come one, do that Zoolander thing."  
>"No way. This is stupid."<p>

"You are not a good shopping buddy."

Clark poked just his head through the curtain. "Seriously and contrary to the universe's evil conspiracy against me. I am not a girl. I don't do clothes shopping."

Then Chloe did that whole dirty pool thing she did so well. "I bet Lex and Ollie do clothes shopping."

"They have like whole closets that just magically fill up with designer clothes each season. No guy actually likes shopping, unless it's for new power tools or for, um, other things."

"I am so never taking you near Victoria's Secret. The way Pete used to stalk it was creepy."

"Oh ha-ha."

"Do you think your biological parents really thought things through?"

"Oh, how so?"

"I mean, it's a big acculturation gap, but, man, forget all the other differences, I don't think rural Kansas matches up with that whole House and title thing you guys apparently had going on."

He shrugged and cursed when he realized she couldn't see the gesture. "Except for the cow and horse smell, Kara seems to like it."

"Whatever. You, Clark, are like the winning argument for nurture over nature. You are just like your dad."

"I really hope so," he replied.

She smiled. "Oh, you are. I know I see it and I'm sure that Martha does too." Clark had turned back and was adjusting everything in the mirror when he heard Chloe whisper softly to herself, "You're a good man." Aw hell, now he was going to have to come out and look like a total moron in front of her.

"Fine, Chlo. You win, but I look stupid."

"I've seen how you look on a daily basis you cannot possibly look stupid and wow."

Clark rolled his eyes and looked down at the charcoal gray slacks he was wearing. "It's stupid. It's a completely pointless expense. I can't go out looking like this and I can't do farmwork either."

"But, just, you look really nice."

He sighed and fidgeted with the buttons of the maroon button down he was wearing. "Right, sure."

"No, she's right. You look great."

Clark blushed at the extra appreciation the salesman was giving him. Yeah, definitely fluffy, and possibly delusional. "Uh thanks, but I don't really think I've looked all that good in a while."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Jeez, until you, ahem, let yourself go, I never knew you were so vein."

"I'm not," he replied stiffly, eying himself in the mirror. "It's just things are awkward."

Chloe sighed. "Is that code for you get to sleep on the couch?"

"Not every night," he defended like that made it all that better. "Look, it's my fault. I can't crash down on someone in my sleep. That could totally kill Lana, and no one can sleep with a…me dangling over their head," he added, dropping his voice.

"I know. It's just…this is not going to end well."

"It didn't start well," Clark replied before thinking. Then, he winced. After looking over his shoulder to make sure the sales assistant wasn't looking, he added quietly, "Ignore that, buddy. I didn't really mean it about your mom."

"You probably did."

"Did not," he said, turning around again and feeling still stupid in the mirror. "I know this is not the best anything, but I can't crush someone. I can't live with that kind of phobia at all either."

"So you say," She replied, sighing. "Clark, I know you don't believe me, but you really are still very attractive and I can't believe how much I have to stroke your ego."

Great, like that sentence didn't make him wish that she'd stroke other things. He sighed and whispered at his stomach. "Kon, really, don't panic or try and jump ship, but I think your dad's stopped thinking clearly. You might have helped with that."

"Hey! Am I still in the conversation?" Chloe asked, stepping up next to him and pulling a lose thread off of his shirt.

"Always, Chlo." He replied. "It's just hard with Lana. I know I don't look like I used to or normal at all, quite frankly."

"Trust me. You still pass for a normal guy. In fact, you pass for an incredibly attractive one and it's not the eighth grade crush talking. The sales guy is totally eying you."

"See and that's what happens when you go high fashion in the first place."

"Uh-huh. I'll let you in on a little secret."

"Will it scar me for life?"

"Possibly." She said, shrugging. "Even Lois can admit you're attractive."

"Lois hates me."

"Yeah and that's why she painted the nursery for you or won't stop obsessing over baby websites trying to outdo Kara on her shower gift. She loves you, just in a very Lois-big sister way. Honestly, even she can admit that you're a good looking guy except…you know."

"For the 'to term' thing," he hissed.

"For the sick obsession with flannel thing," she corrected. "Trust me. If she thought you looked like shit, she'd tell you. She probably wouldn't mean to, but she'd let it slip. She hasn't has she?"  
>"Well she did notice that I gained 30 pounds."<p>

"Review that sentence. Anyone would notice that. You don't look bad at all. Lana's just a squeamish moron most of the time."

"She's not squeamish," he said half-heartedly. "I just look awful."

"Do not," The salesman replied, coming up to them. "Do I need to have these cuffed?"

"Nah, I think they'll do," Chloe replied. She eyed the opened dressing room. "The rest of the stuff fit as well as this did?"

"Yeah, except for all the pants are about an inch and a half loose on the waist."

"I can take that in."

Chloe shook her head. "Nah, you're gonna want to leave gaining room."

"That's the spirit," he replied, sweeping up Clark's other choices and starting to the register. "Oh, and really, it's not 'fat.'"

"It's not now?"

"I prefer 'festively plump' or 'horizontally gifted.'"

Chloe could not resist the good-natured smirk, "Well, you have always been gifted."  
>"I hate you," he said, reaching for the buttons.<p>

"Don't," she said, turning to the clerk. "Can he wear that out?"

"If you pay for it, he can do anything he wants with it."

"Now that's a thought."

"I think Kon is going to be the most over-toyed kid ever," Clark said as he eyed the assortment of play things that adorned the walls. "I don't think we need to shop."

"Okay, second fact. You don't need to shop. It's a pastime. Besides, working for Ollie has upped my income and I am allowed to spoil my little nephew rotten," Chloe finished.

"No one's spoiling that much. I mean, you already got Norman."

"Then I can add one play activity toy to the collection," she said. "Anyway, aren't you both still adding to the nursery?"

He nodded, "We're picking out more books and the changing table's been a back and forth. I don't care much as long as it works but she's going through patterns."

"They have those for a place to change diapers?"

"I have explained my 'rich people are nuts' theory to you, haven't I?"

"No accounting for taste, but if it makes her happy-"

"As long as it's not purple." He shrugged. "She's also on this whole Baby Einstein kick. I've got to play Mozart for every bit of Python."

"She does know that all that stuff is just junk science, right?"

"But it makes her feel better. Besides, I'm really digging Eine Kleine Nacht music."

"They use it in Looney Tunes."

"Well that's what I like about it," he replied.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Okay, so she has figured out the part where you and Kara are like geniuses, hasn't she?"

"I'm not a genius," he objected.

"What's the square root of 5768?"

"74.94735," he said without missing a beat. "Math things do not a genius make."

She snorted, "Yeah right. Between the photographic memory and the mat he could be through Harvard by the time he's thirteen."

"Technically, yeah, he could," he sighed and picked up a set of building blocks on the shelf. "I kind of hated first grade."

"That's random."

"No, it's just that was the first year my mom and dad let me go to school and see other kids besides just Pete and Lana."

"And?"

"He told you about the whole 'through the door' incident, didn't he?"

"Well you didn't mean to do it," she defended.

"Oh, I meant to do it. I just didn't know he'd land in the next room. Man, I thought I was going to get kicked out of school or sent off to Belle Reve or something."

"Why would they do that?"

"It's Smallville and that's the only place for weird kids. I think we've all figured that out by now. Hence, the below the radar lifestyle."

"I know."

"But I kind of screwed up in a lot of ways and not just in an overt display of strength one either. We had placement tests for second grade and I did really well"

"Define 'well?'"

"I got a perfect score and then they gave me a few extra tests before they told my parents about it. They called them in and were talking skipping grades, plural. I mean, like to fifth or sixth grade easily."

"Oh."

"Yeah, there's everything just as suspicious about being a prodigy as there is about being a championship athlete. My mom conned them into making me take the placement test again and she spent the week before it teaching me how to cheat, except in reverse. Instead of trying to get the best answers, I was trying to miss enough to be normal. It's just another one of those things that I'll have to teach Kon," he replied, sighing.

"On the plus side, he'll never have to cram for a midterm."

"Oh, English and History are still hard. Facts can be memorized. The interpretation stuff? Proving your opinion? That's hard. It's kind of why I let you drag me into journalism in the first place instead of going all science and chess club. I can do those without even thinking. I can't write without some serious effort. It's nice."

"Well, no one types up a lunch menu like you. If Lex weren't in charge and the paper had a menu beat, I bet that Perry would assign it to you in a second."

"Perry's not in charge."

"We'll stage a coup, just watch me," She replied, smiling when she picked up a little plastic box. "Oh, I love these."

"What's there to love? It's a box."

No, dork, it's not," She said, placing it down on a counter and pressing the bright yellow button under the first panel. As she did it, a door on top sprung open and a baby Mickey Mouse, complete with a lollipop sprung out. "See," she said, turning the orange dial next to the button and gesturing to the emerging Goofy with binoculars. "You press the right thing and you get a different character. It's for motor skills. I used to love this when I was little."

"Oh, I never had one. I was a little past baby toys when I got here."

"What did they have on Krypton?"

"Kara says we weren't a commercial kind of society. Toys were considered frivolous."

Chloe snorted. "Don't take this the wrong way, but there might be a reason why your people blew themselves up. Jeez, could the stick have been wedged any farther up their asses?"

Clark thought back over the Jor-El AI. "No probably not. So this is fun?"

"Well, not now, obviously, but it is endlessly entertaining when you're two."

He handled it carefully. He was always mindful of his strength and baby stuff was especially fragile. Slipping the bright green lever in the third slot left, he gave a small grin when Donald Duck popped up with a small toy drum clenched in his hands. "That is cute."

"It's fun. I used to make up all the little stories with mine but it was Fraggle-themed and not Disneyfied."

"Made things up, did you?"

She shrugged, "I'm really not much of a creative writer."

"No way," Clark said. "I know you're working on the continued adventures of Norman and Harry."

She smirked at him, "Maybe a little."

"How many meteor mutants have they met so far?"

"They haven't yet, but Norman almost got mutilated by some aliens."

"Oh very funny."

She grinned wider as she fingered the blanket collection. "What? I'm being sensitive to your cultural heritage."

"We didn't do that."

"Admit it. It's not the caves or the mystical connection to the Kawatchee. Your biological parents picked Kansas for the cows, the crop circle potential, and a bunch of guys ready for anal probing and reeking of Jack and Coke."

"Did not."

"You've always been fond of corn."

"Right. Seriously, what do Norman and Harry get up to?"  
>"You'll find out later. I promise I have something you'll be seeing. Jimmy and I have been working on it together."<p>

Clark laughed this time. "You two are going to give up on the investigative journalism and start a series of kids' books, I just know it."

"As if I'd trade the Pulitzer for the Newberry." She said, pulling out a mint green fleece blanket with a baby lamb on it. "Okay, this is precious and it goes really well with the mobile. I'm totally getting it."

Clark narrowed his eyes and flinched at the price tag. "Chlo-"

"Seriously, Ollie owes me this week for the over time I put into hacking through some of Lex's records. Just the once, Clark, and from now on I'll be on your team for explaining the joys of an allowance to Kara and Lana, okay?" She finished, tugging the blanket into the crook of her arm and stepping over with him to the counter.

"Okay, just the once but we're allowance people."

"Of course," she said, bending over to dig her wallet out of a purse so massive that even he would have had trouble carrying it.

Clark smiled politely at the woman working the cash register and then he noticed the tag sticking up out of Chloe's shirt. Gently, he tucked it back behind her hair and let his hand fall down to rest on her shoulder. "You have it yet, Chlo? Still searching for the Holy Grail in there?"

"Found it!" She crowed triumphantly, pulling out her wallet. She set it down on the counter and took out her well-worn Visa. "I'll take both of these."

The woman smiled kindly and started ringing everything up. "When are you due?"

Chloe looked down at her stomach. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because, I'm not supposed to be," Clark whispered into her ear, enjoying the way she chuckled when his breath tickled her ear.

"Oh, I didn't…I just assumed," the woman stammered, putting the items in a bag.

"I'm not. His wife's expecting," Chloe finished and Clark raised his eyebrows at the term but said nothing.

The woman narrowed her eyes as she took the money. "I see. I'm sorry about my mistake. I just see a lot of couples come in over the years and you two seemed very good together, very relaxed and happy. Trust me, I see a lot of stress and yelling in here too."

Clark thought back to how the farm had felt over the last four months. "I can definitely believe that."

Chloe blushed, "But we're just best friends, have been since we were little."

The woman swiped her card and shrugged, eying the way Clark's hand rested on her shoulder. "Of course."

"I…thank you," He replied stiffly as he took the bag and followed Chloe out into the nearest alley. Slipping into superspeed made it look like he disappeared into thin air and that was definitely on the list of very suspicious things .

"You know," Chloe said, leaning against the fire escape. "I should start worrying. Everyone keeps assuming I'm the pregnant one."

"Now who's the girl?"

"Oh, I definitely am. No shame in that. Boys are stupid."

"Hey! We take offense at that."

"Uh-huh. Seriously, I don't look pregnant, do I?"

He snorted. "No way, but, like I said, they aren't going to assume it's me, unless they're nuts or spent too much time in Smallville."

"Fair enough." She quirked her head at him when he continued to study her. "Are you tired again?"

"No, why?"

"Wouldn't this be the shuttle time?"

"Oh very funny. No, I just…why'd you say it like that?"

"Say what like what?"

"About Lana. She's not my wife."  
>She shrugged and started picking at her fingernails. "It was the best term I could come up with. Somehow 'live-in girlfriend' sounded a little dirty and baby-momma-"<p>

"Doesn't apply since I'm the one carrying Kon?"

"Kind of. I just…we were already getting looks."

"I know that. Mom's been getting all these stares in town and the poll stuff sucks, and it's Smallville and it just looks really bad."

Chloe sighed. "It's all kind of a formality, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"You two will probably end up that way sooner or later, married, I mean."

"Maybe. I promised mom, I'd wait and if she weren't in the public eye, I really wouldn't regret the waiting thing at all. Besides, I thought you and Kara and Lois were all rooting it to end."

"I'm not rooting for anything that would hurt Kon. I just don't think it's very healthy, but you seem so determined to make it work. I figured that sooner or later the ring you made three years ago would show back up again." She finished, her tone resigned.

He sighed and came to lean next to her on the railing. "I don't know what'll happen. Things are better. The stupid sleep floating thing is another complication, but I feel like there's less tension. I feel like we're trying, but wife …that sounds so, I dunno."

"Grown up?"  
>"Permanent," he replied.<p>

She shrugged. "Not with the sixty percent divorce rate, it's not."

"I wouldn't divorce."

"Well I know you're trying hard to channel your inner Jonathan Kent, but that's still mostly unbridled optimism, stubbornness, stupidity or a mix of all three."

He shook his head. "No, I know I wouldn't. I…we didn't divorce."

"Kara told you that?"

"She didn't have to. I already knew it," he said, blushing a little at the thought of Khyla and the bracelet. "It's just not who we are and I don't even think it's a cultural thing."

"Oh," She replied.

"Yeah, God, I know that's weird. I mean, it sounds like some mating thing. I…it just means that I wouldn't leave, but I'd have to be sure before I did something like that."

"You've been pining after her since you were five. It seems like a pretty permanent thing. Plus you did propose before." Chloe offered and he couldn't tell if she was resigned or something else…jealous maybe?

No, that was nuts.

"But it's different now. I know more."

"From Kara."

He nodded, "Some, but I just…I'm not ready. I'd have to trust her more and wanting to trust someone and actually doing it are two different things. I just wish I could lean on her the way I did you."

Chloe sighed, "Well, there's a difference between a girlfriend and a best friend."

"I know that. Things are just easier sometimes with you."

"Lana said something like that to me once. We might have been sophomores in high school; we were so young."

"And?"

"It's easier to talk to me because you're not in love with me, and it's not a complaint. I'm fine and enjoying my swinging single lifestyle. Plus, you know, I've learned so much about the recreational uses of whipped cream."

Clark blushed. "Oh boy."

"Yeah, I know. I'm way past high school. The whole constantly dying thing gives a girl perspective, you know?"

"Don't even joke."  
>"I'm not. I'm trying to be as honest as I can. Water is wet, money can buy you anything, and you love Lana. These are pretty much facts as I see them. I think the loving her part-which some of us pretty much see as blind devotion-complicates everything."<p>

"Should it?"

"I told you that loving someone is hard. You weren't wrong about that."

He sighed and looked into her eyes. Things with Lana lately, and, if he were honest with himself, by lately he meant ever since she'd faked her own death, were always hard and painful. Navigating his life with Chloe was complicated and, as always, eluded description. Even now, there were painful moments and awkward ones, but there were so many good things too.

Like today.

"Yeah, I guess so. I just…I'm not making any decisions about that until long after Kon's born. I'm not promising her anything. I'm trying but I just am not promising that kind of commitment."

"I'm glad," she replied.

"Really?"

"Well, the catechism part's a little disappointed, but I spent most of my time at St. Catherine's harassing penguins, so it evens out. I'm sorry if I chose the wrong moniker."

"It made the end of the shopping easier," he replied, shrugging. "I don't think most people would be ready for, 'technically I'm the male alien surrogate for my mostly live-in girlfriend.'"

She snorted, "I'd like to see Hallmark make up and market that holiday."

"Fat chance," he started and then he tensed.

"Clark?"

"I…God, is it really warm out here?"

"It's twenty-five degrees outside. There's almost three feet of snow piled up. Of course not."

"I…fuck!" He shouted, twisting his head in time to aim a torrent of heat vision at the dumpster. It felt like it was going on forever, the heat rushing through him and the power of it forcing him to his knees. Finally, it stopped.

Too bad for the dumpster it hadn't been sooner. It was melted into slag.

"Clark?" Chloe asked, her voice as gentle as the reassuring hand on the back of his neck. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "It's not going to happen again anytime soon. That much heat that fast? I kind of need to recharge."

"I see," she said and her hand was still pressed firmly on his neck. "Has this happened before?"

He shook his head. "Most of the glitches are me losing power. The superbreath has acted up twice so far, but I've never had my heat vision just go full blast like that. Oh god, what if that had been mom or Lana or even Kara. Heat vision can definitely hurt even us."  
>"The jewelry store robbery. You managed to reflect your own heat vision back at you."<p>

"Yeah, that's how I went blind for a few days. Even Kara wouldn't be safe with that. What am I going to do?"

"You could try standing up first," she said quietly. "Come on, stand up for me."

He nodded and got weakly to his feet. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Okay, so this complicates things-"

"Complicates?" He asked and the volume of his voice was rising by the syllable. "I just melted a dumpster into being unrecognizable. I can't afford to do that to mom or Lana or even Shelby or the cows. Oh God!"

"Clark," she said, pushing at his shoulders and forcing him to look at her. "Don't panic."

"Not panic?"

"And don't parrot. This is the first time it's done that. We can figure out some way around it. I know we can."

"It's heat vision."

"I know what it was."

"It's like a nuclear bomb," he confessed quietly. "You know what it did to Wes and now it's just glitching. I…maybe I do need to tell Lana about it. Maybe ISIS could-"

"Nothing good will come from the end of that thought. Yes, everyone in the family-not Jimmy and Lois but everyone else-needs to know about the glitches. Don't mention the power surge part, or then you really won't be allowed to leave ISIS."

"No one's dragging me anywhere."

"No, but she'd guilt you into it like the master manipulator she is. Clark, we'll figure this out. Kara and I can patch something together. Fuck, we'll lie and tell J'onn it's Kara's glitch and not yours if we have to."

"What if I kill someone?"

"You won't."

"But you can't-"

"Know that? Try new cue cards. I'm not going to let you hurt anyone, even if you don't mean it. Besides," she said, smiling weakly. "I can fix anybody."

He felt nauseous. "You don't want to heal someone from that, Chlo. I don't want to put anyone through that at all. God, what's happening to me?"

Chloe leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hormones. It's not your fault."

"It is. I didn't think. I should have been more careful with Lana in the first place. I don't think Kara or I were supposed to do this here."

"But you did, and we can't change that."

His hand clenched over his belly and hers joined soon after. "I'd never want that."

"Then we'll fix this. We've saved the world a few times over now. We can Clark-proof the farm."

"God, I hope so. I just…I hate this. I love Kon, you know I do, but there's the exhaustion and the glitches and the floating and now this, and it's only been the six months."

"We'll get through this."

"You can't know that."

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Please, have you met me? If Chloe Sullivan says it's fixable, it so is. I don't care if I have to put evil CEOs in prison or outsmart intergalactic robots or raise the dead-"

"You have a pretty awesome resume, actually."

"I know." She said, her voice growing quiet and sincere. "I mean it. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to either of you. I promise. Now, do you want to go home for a while? You have to be tired after that."

"I am and I do. Chlo," he said, sweeping her up in one arm and her the loot in the other.  
>"Yeah?"<p>

"Thank you. I...a lot people wouldn't put up with me."

"I don't put up well with the moping," she corrected. "Fearsome traveler powers don't faze me as much."

"I know, but it's just really nice."

"What's nice?" she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's just nice to know that for sure, outside of mom and Kara, that there's one person I can be a complete freakshow around and they still won't get disgusted with me."

"You're such a dumbass. Did you know that?"

"Not the reaction that I was going for."

"It's a lot more than just me and Kara and your mom. The Bros would always have your back and Lois and Jimmy have it too. A lot of people actually like you."

He noticed that Chloe had enough sense not to mention Lana. The last few weeks with the floating had kind of proven she sometimes had a weird limit. Of course, he didn't want to be squashed by a falling Kryptonian much either. "Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence. Can't tell you how glad I am that I can't run Lois off."

"It's a strange family, but it works for us."

"Yeah," he said, his voice hoarse and he realized how close they were, how easy it would be to just lean over and…He shook his head. Stupid hormones really were making him nuts. Chloe wouldn't want that, and he was just presuming a lot. "I…thank you for still being here."

"Always. Now, can we go home? I might not freeze to death and stay dead, but I don't like frostbite much either."

"This, Jubilee, would be summer time where I'm from."

"First, you're the one putting on the lightshow, Jar-Jar."

"What's second?"

"Just let's go home, okay?"

"Sure." He said, before hesitating.

Chleo frowned, "Your speed's not out, is it?"

"No, not at all."

"Why are you stalling then, lazy bones?"

"Hardly lazy," he sniffed. "It's funny isn't it?"

"What?"

"The clerk assuming we were the parents. I mean, I know Lana wasn't there, but it wasn't just me who was thrown, right?"

Chloe looked away and, when she spoke, her voice was too cheery to be genuine. "It was kind of crazy, wasn't it? I'm just Aunt Chloe."

"Best aunt ever."

"Don't let Kara hear you say that."

"I won't. So, we're going onto home, right?"

"Yup."

"Yours or mine?"

"The farm, always the farm." She finished, tucking her chin into his chest.

"Coming right up," he replied quietly, part of him wishing that it wasn't a question of hers and his homes. Something definitely sounded right about having a home together, an ours . Conversely, everything was wrong with her thinking about herself as just anything, but especially just Aunt Chloe.

She meant a Hell of a lot more than that.


	20. Chapter 20

20

"Mom, no, it's fine. No, I'm totally fine. I'm not that tired. No, really, I just had more chores yesterday than I thought. No, really. Don't come home early from London. Please, I'll see you Friday. I promise. Yes, we will talk then. No, I'm not sleeping on the sofa that much. I'm not sleeping on anything at all, mostly. Sorry. You're right I shouldn't be a smartass. Sorry, mom. I'm fine. Kon's fine. I love you too. Bye!"

"Kal, you are just not that smooth," Kara replied as he put the phone back on its cradle. "Like Aunt Martha's buying the great couch exile isn't that bad."

"It's not," he defended, sitting back down at the kitchen table.

"Three days out of seven. Do you know any pregnant women who'd have to put up with that shit?"

"First, language. Second, I am NOT a girl. Third, most pregnant individuals-"

"Women," Kara corrected as she flipped the concoction in the frying pan over once and then a second time.

"Oh, I can't wait for all of this shit to happen to you."

"Language," she chided back, getting a plate out from the cupboard. '

"Uh-huh. My point is that I float. It's not like I need the mattress stuff either."

"Right, Kal, whatever you have to believe."

"I don't have to believe anything," he grouched as she set the plate down in front of him. "Kara, you didn't have to do that. I thought you were making your own breakfast."

"Oh, I grabbed muffins at The Talon earlier with Lo."

"You're plotting."

"And how," she replied. "However, I don't eat omelets with goat cheese, nails, and sardines."

"You're missing out," he said around a mouthful.

Kara snorted, "You're lapping me in the weird olympics."

"Don't I know it. Really, the iron is pretty good though. You're missing out."

Idly, she cut a small piece off for herself and bit into it and even swallowed. "It's not bad, but the sardine stuff has got to go."

"All the salt is the best part."

"Right," she said, sighing. "You know you're going to have to eat faster. We're supposed to be in the Hell hole in five minutes."

Clark slipped into superspeed and polished off the three omelets that she'd made for him. "Are we good?"

"Show off," she said. "I still can't believe you're going through any of this or letting her hang out at the farm. Iad , I wouldn't call it living here since she's always sleeping at Aunt Nell's."

Clark narrowed his eyes at her as he walked over to the sink to rinse of his plate. "Don't say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it's a euphemism."

"Why? It so is. You know that she's just waiting to squirrel-"

"Rabbit-"

"A rodent's a rodent. You know that she just pulled all that 'I can't sleep with you' crap so she'd have some kind of alibi for fucking her ex-husband."

Clark slammed his hands on the counter hard, but still regained enough control to keep it standing. He did hate replacing stuff. The ceramic dish he'd been using didn't fare as well.

It shattered a few seconds after the counter stopped shaking.

Kara whistled, "So I'm guessing the telekinesis thing is not a one-time deal?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess not. You guys had been so good about not fighting lately that there hasn't been enough tension to get it to go off. I was kind of hoping that it was a fluke."

"We're never that lucky."

"I don't like you talking about Kon's mom like that."

"Like what?" Kara asked innocently.

"Don't even make me say it."

"Oh, you mean like a huge, giant whore?"

The glass he'd been drinking out of cracked this time. "Damn it, we need to not waste money replacing things with a baby coming. So can you bring it down about ten notches?"

"Fine, Kal, but you know what's happening as well as I do. You can't be that much of a moron."

"She's not doing anything."

"Right."

"She's not!"

"How do you know?"

"You know how . If they were...we'd smell it on her."

Kara snorted, "So she's learned how to douche obsessively."

"You've been here for a year. How the Hell would you even know about that? I I don't even know what that is."

"You can guess. You can fool a bloodhound, Kal. Isn't that why when criminals and stuff escape they wade through water?"

"Okay, Jimmy and Lois seriously are not helping with your acculturation anymore."

"So not the point. She can fake things."

"Or you could be reaching." He said, leaning back against the counter. "I choose to believe the mother of my child. She hasn't done anything that I can tell."

"Have you been watching closely?"

"What? Should I go camp out at the LuthorCorp penthouse or the mansion like some obsessive stalker. I am not doing that."

Kara shook her head, "I blame myself."

"For what?"

"For you being miserable."

"I'm not," he said, rubbing his stomach. "We're ecstatically happy."

"Yeah, this place is so Disneyland," She replied. "Nope, it's my fault you're this stupid."

"I'm not stupid and what do you even mean?"

"Okay, so don't take this the wrong way, and don't hold it against me because, hello, super reflexes and invulnerability now-"

"What happened?"

"I...uh, might have dropped you on your head this one time I was babysitting."

His eyes widened. "You did what?"

"You were squirming the one time and ice can be slippery and you didn't even cry. I thought you were fine."

"You. Dropped. Me."

"Just the once, but you were okay and Lara never noticed and I thought you were fine. Clearly, I caused brain damage."

"Oh, you are never babysitting for Kon."

"Like he could hurt himself at all ever."

"You're not trustworthy and I'm not brain damaged."

"It's clearly the only explanation for letting Lana run all over you. There's no other even non-logic for it."

"There are reasons," he started, cursing when his watch beeped. "Damn it. We're late now. So are you at least coming or are you not?"

"Oh, like I'd ever leave my baby cousins alone in that place." She said, speeding after him down into ISIS.

"Clark, I have to say I kind of miss you down here."

Clark sighed and sat down on the table as routinely as he always did. "Can't say I feel the same way about that, Dr. Russell. It's been nice not being here 24/7, honestly. Not that you haven't been pretty nice about everything, considering the circumstances."

Russell nodded as he eyed the corner where Schwartz and Lana were talking. "No, this was never an ideal situation. Still, I'm glad you've continued to come. If this were a more, well, conventional-"

"Human," Kara spat out.

"Well that too," he conceded. "Pregnancy, I'd be horrified at thought of you giving up medical care in the middle of the second trimester. Given the added complications...I'm just glad someone is watching you."

Clark sighed, "And that's why I'm still here."

"I know and I am sorry there aren't more agreeable circumstances, really."

"Thanks," he said, shucking off his shirt.

"So far things do look like they are progressing well. You're up to a little over 38 pounds and the blood work from last week was within what we think are supposed to be your norms."

"Well, my baselines but close enough," Kara replied, shrugging.

Clark sighed again. "I hate my ancestors. This was the worst contingency plan ever and it's stupid."

"To be fair, they didn't see this whole coming-to-Earth thing and half-alien offspring."

"I hate that word."

"Not for us, dumbass. I meant half Lana, lying bitch, whatever. It can't be good for him."

"Kara," Russell said politely. "I have another joke. Would you like to hear it?"

"You're trying to distract me."

"Not for nefarious purposes. Stress isn't good for the baby."

"Finally, someone gets that," Clark replied.

"I'm sorry, Kal," Kara replied contritely. "I just really hate this place so much and I'm not too fond of her." Leaning over his stomach a little but still avoiding Russell's wand, Kara whispered to Kon, "Sorry, little cousin. Really, I don't care that you're only half good stuff. I'm sure the El side will totally balance out being related to Lana."

"Kara-"

"That was being nice. Kon's already awesome. It's an inescapable fact."

Russell chuckled. "It's coming along quite nicely. Everything looks also normal."

"Besides the usual obvious," Clark replied, leaning back and waiting for Meyers, Schwartz and his weekly blood draw.

"Well, there is that. Honestly, if I were only looking at the ultrasound and didn't know that the patient wasn't-"

"A mere mortal woman?" He asked wryly.

"Well, in a manner of speaking," he conceded. "But if I just saw the ultrasound without any context, I'd call it textbook."

"With the context?"

"It's still very healthy. I can't promise that things won't change tomorrow. Your biology is mercurial at best."

"Tell me about it."

"But I'm pleased."

"Good, joke now," Kara prodded.

He nodded and pulled out his stethoscope to start listening in on Clark's heart. Idly, Clark wondered if any of the doctors had ever been disappointed that he only had the one. "Alright, here's this one: 'Knock-knock.'"

Kara grinned, "I've got this one."

"I'm aware of how the schtick works. I just don't know why you are so obsessed with them."

"They're funny. So, who's there?"

"Ivan."

"'Ivan' who?"

"Ivan my money back." Russell finished, mimicking a rim shot noise.

Kara giggled again, "That's cute. I think I'll do that the next time someone stiffs the register or tries to under pay."

"It wasn't that good. It sounds like Chloe's dad."

"Uh-huh. Whatever, Kal. Maybe when I dropped you, I just killed your sense of humor. That would explain so much."

"Very funny." Clark said, shifting a little at the way the stethoscope tickled his chest. "Please tell me you don't have any others."

"No, I do have a clip of Simon from the concert."

"Is it bad?"

"He tries, that's what matters."

"Kal?"

"Yeah?"

"When Kon has pageants and school plays and stuff, do I have to go? Can't I just listen on the sly and tell him it was good instead of sit through it."

"Kara!" Clark hissed.

"What? Oh fuck."

Russell made a few notes on Clark's chart and shook his head. "I never heard that. I have no idea what Kara's talking about in any way and no one else is going to know, alright. Not that they didn't suspect that your eyes and ears worked to the same level of acuteness."

"Uh, thanks, not that there's anything that's up," Clark deflected lamely.

"Clark, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you ever manage to stay hidden this long? I've worked in a lot of places. I've met some pretty slick schemers in undergrad in the Ivies and you should see the lies people tell to get drugs from a clinic."

"Your point?"

"You two, without a doubt, are the worst liars I have ever met. You're horrible."

"Gee, thanks," Clark drawled.

"You really need to work on that."

"So," Clark asked, watching as Schwartz and company finished shuffling their papers. "Why the clarinet? Didn't he ever aim big with the guitar?"

Russell paused. "I...he has breathing problems. It was recommended as a kind of therapy to help him learned to control his breath."

"Now that we can relate to," Kara said and then blushed. "I mean-"

Russell shook his head. "Maybe you two just shouldn't talk at all."

"Probably, but good luck getting her to shut up."

"Well, I'm sure she'll stay quiet enough for the rest of it," Schwartz replied with his same usual clinical detachment. "Just the blood draw and you'll be free to go."

"Yeah. How would I ever get confused by the routine after five months," Clark drawled.

Lana sighed, "You could be polite."

He nodded "I'm sorry. I just...I had a long day yesterday." That was true. He also hadn't slept much the night before because he was still trying to figure out how to break the glitch stuff to his family. Chloe was going to break down and tell them soon if he didn't.

"Lana," Kara said tightly, reaching over to rest her hand on Clark's shoulder. "I've missed you at the farm lately. How's your aunt?"

"She's fine," Lana replied, her hand tense around the familiar lead box that house the Blue K. "We went to the movies yesterday."

" Indecent Proposal , maybe. That seems right up your alley."

"What are you implying?" Lana's hand tightened so much this time her knuckles were white.

"I'm not implying it. I'm saying it straight out. You've been-"

"Hey, could we just not?" Clark asked, wincing when the needle entered his skin.

"I'd love to, Clark, your cousin is just being...wait a second."

"Wait a second what?" Clark asked, flinching a little at the sight of his blood filling the needles.

"Kal?" Kara asked, her voice tremulous, and that did scare him. Even Kara didn't go from rip-roaring pissed off to worried that fast.

"What? I don't get it."

"The box isn't open." Schwartz finished, his unerring gaze fixed steadily on Clark's arm.

"I...no, it has to be."

Kara shook her head and, silently, picked up one of the packaged spare needles. Slipping it out, she poked it against her skin.

It bent easily.

Clark gulped down to where his needle was being easily slipped, intact, from his skin. "I...oh crap."

"Oh crap? That's all you have to say? Damn it, Kal-El! You're supposed to tell me these things. This is stuff I'd need to know."

"Like that whole 'men got pregnant on Krypton' bit you left out for me?" He shot back at her.

"Clark," Lana asked, her voice quiet. "You don't seem that surprised to be powerless."

Clark reached out with his left hand for one of the metal exam tools-he felt better not knowing exactly what something that large did-and bent it easily. "I'm not. My invulnerability is just out." To his satisfaction, he noticed Meyers and Schwartz exchange a weary look and back away from him just a little.

"Your powers have gone out before, though, haven't they? I got home two days ago and you were passed out. Only half the chores were done. There was that day over a month ago where you hesitated to lift. I thought it was because you distracted or something, but you weren't," Kara finished.

"I...yeah, that's true."

Lana's face pinched up, "That's a month, Clark. You've been going through all of this without telling any of us."

"I didn't want you to worry."

"Of course I'd worry. Connor's health is at stake. If I'd known...well I do know now. We can start running new tests immediately."

"Oh you sure as Hell will not be doing that, you bitch. You got your excuse to shack up with Lex. You will not be getting an excuse to turn my cousins into guinea pigs and if any of you even think of pulling that 'it's just a baseline' shit with me, I swear to Rao I will torch the whole goddamn building," Kara replied.

"I would never hurt my child or Clark." And he was so glad he rated in the after thought category. "But this is something different. He's sick. Tests are crucial now."

"And you're not sticking anything in him. I won't let you." Lana's fingers twitched around the box and that was all the confirmation Kara needed to move. The box was in her hand before Lana could even blink. "I'm really not that stupid."

"He's sick."

"I doubt quality time with the best team blackmail can extort can fix him."

"It's not your business, Kara."

"Oh, it so is. My father sent me here for him and you are not bleeding him like a stuck pig."

"I'll do whatever-"

"Enough!" Clark shouted. "Goddamn it! That's enough. I'm sitting right the fuck here. I'm not staying here for anything. The blood's done and I'm going home. We will talk about it and, Kara, you won't jump all over Lana and you, Lana, won't forget that I actually have an IQ like you always do. And we are not doing anything that involves either testing or throwing any one off the farm."

"But Kal-"

"Clark, this is really the best place for you right now."

"You would say that. I bet you're just waiting for the right time to pull out the special blue rock and drag him off to 33.1 yourself. Or maybe you just want to get all the credit for ISIS's best scientific find ever."

"I really wouldn't push me, Kara."

"Please, guys," Clark begged and then, just as he expected it, came Kon's kicking.

The little guy really hated noise.

Clark took a sharp breath. "Oh, ouch."

Kara's hand tensed on his shoulder, "Kal-El," she asked, slipping easily into Kryptonian, "Are you alright?"

"It's just Kon. He's kicking and fuck, that does hurt."

"And I suppose I should just let the fact that you're in pain slide as well, that I shouldn't try and have my team look that over either?" Lana demanded.

"Well, if you'd like to Roswell us so much-"

Clark groaned, "Guys, just stop it. Damn it!" He cursed again and this time the large fluorescent light over the examine table exploded into a shower of sparks and shattered glass.

Everyone in the room but Kara froze. Instead, she leaned over and started pulling Clark to his feet. "Come on, we're going home."

Lana was the first to recover. "You're not surprised about this either."

"I...no, I'm not," he admitted.

Schwartz frowned at Lana. "I don't know why you insist on telling me things piece meal. It... his mother insists that his other abilities don't affect his health, but they clearly might. I'd have liked to have known about the telekinesis."

"I didn't know," Lana said shortly.

"I don't believe that Mrs...Ms. Lang."

"I didn't," she replied, turning to glare at Clark. "Have you told me anything that's true in the last six weeks?"

"Have you?" Kara shot back.

Clark sighed and rubbed his stomach. Kon was doing his best David Beckham impression inside of him. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry anyone."

And that was only partially true. He hadn't wanted the staff of ISIS to know that he was weaker than he should be, and he definitely didn't want anyone to know what the hormones were making him capable of.

He hadn't wanted Lana to know that he had another ability.

She just...she never got these things.

"You did. Now, get back on the table and-"

"I'm going to the farm. You and Kara can join me, if you can be polite to each other for an hour or so, and we'll talk there. I don't care what happens to either of us. We will not stay in a lab overnight, no matter what."

"Clark-"

"About damn time, Kal." Kara huffed before racing out ahead of him.

Clark was sitting at the table, in the seat that had always been his father's. He was no longer fourteen. He was old enough to understand that his father had not been perfect, far from, actually, considering his insane stubbornness and short temper, but he still missed him. His dad had always made him feel better.

Yeah, most of his advice had boiled down to a platitude, but his father had still always been there for him.

He wished he'd been able to hold on long enough for his mother to come back from London. Chloe'd been right. He should have told his family so much sooner.

Clark fiddled with the cell in his pocket. He'd have given anything for Chlo to be there with them all right now, but he was perceptive enough to understand that this was one of those stupid boundary times. He couldn't hide it from Lana that Chloe'd known about all of the complications first, and that was going to leave her livid. He could never explain having Chloe at the table for this.

Of course, a petty part of him sniped, he already was on the couch. There wasn't much worse it could get. It was his farm, after all. Lana couldn't kick him off of it.

Kara was sitting on one side of him. Her own self-imposed touching rule broken enough for her to have a hand over Kon. She shifted from time to time in reaction to the strength of his son's kicks. Lana was sitting on the other side of him, her hands folded on the table.

"Now would be a good time to start explaining."

"Kal, please."

He nodded, "My powers started glitching about five weeks ago. It started at ISIS. I couldn't lift the weight for about thirty seconds. It came back, but I couldn't do it at first."

"That's why you went to see Chloe at The Planet even when we agreed you wouldn't go where Lex works," Lana finished.

"How did you know?"

"How did I what?"

"Know that I'd gone to the DP. Chloe, Lois, and Lex were the only three people who saw me there that day. Chloe swore she'd never tell and after two years of keeping the alien secret, I know she'd never betray this. Lois didn't know what was going on and neither did Lex, but they knew I visited. You haven't talked to Lois in months, except to be snotty with her when you figured out she knew ."

"Chloe must have-"

"She'd never."

"And that's why you always go to her first, Clark. Every time. You tell her you're pregnant first. You tell her my son's sex first. You tell her when there are complications. You tell her everything and I'm second place to you."

"Nice try. I'm not going to be distracted this time." He said, leaning back a little in his seat. "How did you know I'd seen Chloe?"

"Lex mentioned it. He came up to me at a charity function for Metropolis General and he mentioned, quite pointedly, how much weight you'd gained. I spent the next hour describing in great detail all the symptoms I'd been having since my 'pregnancy' started to get him off of your trail. You were the one stupid enough to put the both of you on the radar to see Chloe."

"God, Kal, please tell me you aren't that stupid."

Clark frowned, "I'm not making this about Chloe."

"You always do."

"I couldn't keep it all to myself," he pleaded. "It was one glitch at first and I thought she could handle it. I didn't want to worry you or mom or Kara. Then it snowballed."

"Define that."

"I...it's a different thing every day. Most of the time my speed or strength goes out for an hour or so, but that's not always it. I had a few uncontrollable sneezing fits. Today was the first day I wasn't actually invulnerable."

"What else?" Kara prodded, frowning at him.

"Else?"

"I know you, Kal. There's always something else."

He nodded and looked down at his hands. "The heat vision. Chloe and I were out yesterday-"

"You went out with her?" Lana demanded.

"Oh and here's a shock. Kal can have friends. If you get to spend time fucking Aunt Nell. I'm sorry, if you can hang out with 'her,' then Clark can see Chloe or Lois or Jimmy or whomever he wants."

Lana pursed her lips. "I'm not sleeping with Lex."

"Saying it enough times does not make it so," Kara pointed out. "If it worked that way, Kal would be human by now."

"I...Kara!"

"I wasn't even talking about it in a jealous way. I don't care what he does with Chloe."

"Yeah right."

"Exactly right, but he's not supposed to be out in public."

"Well maybe he doesn't like being locked up on the farm while you're off being all high society in Metropolis."

"Just stop it!" Clark shouted and this time it was Lana's mug of tea that shattered into bits.

Lana pushed back from the table and he could hear her heart racing. Clark closed his eyes and turned his head away from her. He hated to see fear like that the most. It hurt that it was directed at him, but it just brought back her reaction to the news of how strong Kon would grow to be.

He could handle hesitation toward his own abilities.

Kon would never survive having his own mother flinch like that around him.

"Please don't.

"Don't what?"

"Don't panic. Don't startle like that," he said, finally turning back to face her. "I don't care what you think of me, but you have to be better for Kon."

"Glass shattered and I got scared, Clark. It's natural."

He nodded, "I know. It scared all of us when it first happened in Chloe's apartment, but you have to get better at the unexpected stuff. Kon will come into his powers the same way I did mine. It will be something random that just happens the first time, a shock like the heat vision and The Talon walls, and you can't flinch then. Mom never has."

Chloe never has.

"I'm not your mother."

Kara snorted, "You'd never be Aunt Martha."

"You have to do better."

"How can I not flinch when it's my mug exploding in my hands? Be real, Clark."

"I know. It's a shock, but you have three years. Start being better at faking it for Kon. I'm not stupid...Kara don't interrupt right now if you value your I-pod."

"I'll be good."

"I know that what I did sometimes scared my parents. How could it not? But you can't let it show, ever, not in front of ourson. He'll never feel loved that way."

"I do love him."

"Then learn to take shocks better," he said and, grinning wryly, added, "It's Smallville after all."

"Clark, the heat vision, the telekinesis. What the Hell is going on?"

"I...it's the hormones, I think. Yesterday, I melted-not burned, melted to nothing-a dumpster because I couldn't make it stop, and every time I get really upset and Kon starts getting agitated-"

"Kablam!" Kara shouted, clapping her hands.

"Kablooey," Clark finished.

"And what are you going to do about this?"

"I...mostly, I try not to get upset. Kara's kept from fighting with you at least in front of me because she knows it sets me and Kon off."

"The heat vision?"

"I don't have an answer for that one. Chlo didn't either; I was just supposed to tell you guys today. The only I do know to do is hope it doesn't happen again and shut my eyes if it does."

"That's not a very good plan, little cousin," Kara said, patting him gently.

"I know, but it was all I had. I was hoping maybe you knew something about heat vision and hormones or something I didn't know. Maybe something from my uncle before he sent you here?"

She shook her head, "I don't have a solution."

"I do," Lana replied coolly.

He frowned and looked back at her. "What is it?"

"You said that Dax-Ur made a bracelet out of the Blue Kryptonite, that he wore it to be human."

"To strip him of his powers," Kara corrected. "He voluntarily crippled himself and then Brainiac used it to his advantage and slaughtered him."

An icy chill swept down Clark's back and that was bizarre because he was never cold. "I won't do that."

"Clark, think about it. If you release that much heat vision in the house, it won't exist anymore. Or what if you kill someone? What if it's me?"

"I know that, but it's worse to have my powers gone."

"You didn't have them once for a whole summer."

"And mutants almost murdered you and mom and dad, and I got shot and died. I can't give them up. Brainiac's still out there and J'onn might need help. Kara's been taking my slack, but she might not be enough some night and I can't take a chance of something happening to her or innocent people while I'm pretending to be human."

"I was not suggesting that."

"No, but just like with the floating, you're going to get exactly what you want," Kara hissed. "You wanted an excuse to fuck Lex Luthor's brains out and I'm sure you've taken it."

"I have not!"

Clark perked up his ears and he swore like with the night she'd come home at four AM, her heart was not speeding up. He glanced at Kara and noticed the frown on her face. She hadn't picked up on any changes either.

"It doesn't mean anything," She said tersely in Kryptonian. "You can fake a lie detector."

"Not now, Kara," he replied, blushing when he realized it wasn't in English.

Lana hated that.

Few things bugged her more than when Kara told Kon stories in her native language.

"Clark, I'm not doing anything wrong, and it's not a suggestion to make you more human. I'll admit it might have a side benefit of Kon not absorbing as much sunlight. He might not grow up as strong."

"Because of the radiation poisoning his body," Kara spat. "Why don't we just take a bus load of school kids to Six Mile Island?"

"It's three, for one thing," Lana replied. "And what else can you do? This stops the heat vision from killing someone. It can stop the telekinesis."

"I can't do it," Clark replied. "I won't. I'd like to say it's all because I can't let other people suffer or Brainiac destroy the world or a million other things, and it is that too, but I can't give up my abilities, not now."

"Why?"

"Because then I won't be able to feel him and know he's safe. I won't be able to see him. I check him a hundred times a day without even realizing it most of the time because it's second nature. It would be like sending a newborn to live in California and forcing his mother to live in New York."

" I'm his mother."

He blushed and rubbed his stomach self-consciously. "I know you are. I...that came out weird. What I mean is that if my powers were gone, I couldn't survive it. I need him. I've heard every beat of his heart since he was six weeks old; I've memorized its rhythm. You can't take that away from me, please."

Lana considered this and shook her head, "But you're dangerous."

"I won't give Kon up like that."

"ISIS could help; the bracelet would help."

"I-"

"No, the bracelet could not," Kara replied.

"It's only three months without them. It's not that much."

"How would you even know what it's like to not have them?" His cousin demanded.

"I had them once."

"So I heard and knowing that my nephew had half of your moral compass keeps me up nights."

God, it kept him up too.

"How-"

"Dare I? Yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before. Going back to not having them...it's like being blind and deaf. Every time you open that fucking box, I hate it. I don't like not having my hearing or my strength gone for ten minutes. We can't live like that for months."

"Dax-Ur did."

"He's the moron who made that monster in the first place and helped ruin our planet. He's not the best source of good advice. Plus, dead now. I think that proves how wrong this plan is, but it's not even about what Kal wants, which you've clearly never cared about."

"I do."

"Words only," she replied.

"Kara," he said, struggling to stay on topic. "What do you mean it's not about what I want?"

"Kal, you can't carry Kon to term without your powers."

"But you said that men had babies on Krypton and that is still the dumbest sentence I've ever said."

"You've said dumber," Kara quipped, glaring at Lana. "Kal-El, our men could do this on Krypton fine, but we're on Earth."

"But I'm fine, um, mostly," he hedged.

"You're just making this up because you hate my plan," Lana huffed.

"Amputation is not a plan," Kara replied. "But you're not seeing the pregnancy for what it is."

"What is is?" Lana replied, her fingers tensing.

"Kon's half-alien."

"I'm well aware that he's Kryptonian." She said, looking at Clark and he shifted nervously under her gaze.

"No, you don't understand, Lana. I'm not talking about the Kryptonian part. That's not the problem. To us, to Kal's body, Kon'sthe alien because he's half-human. If Kal weren't invulnerable, if he didn't have the best immune system on the planet barring mine, then he'd have lost Kon months ago. We didn't interbreed with aliens. God knows we had our shot. I mean, really, the Tuolkm'rew were really hot. I mean, they all looked like James-"

"Kara!"

"Oh right. Sorry, Kal. The point is. It doesn't work. It's not supposed to happen, but because we have powers here, it might just make it."

Clark's hand tightened around Kon. "What do you mean might ? Why didn't you say anything to the doctors before."

Kara smiled sadly. "You're not the only who doesn't want to worry their cousin. I think it will be fine, but it never would have gotten this far without your powers. You wouldn't have conceived at all. If you try taking his powers, Kon might die."

"It's what you think. You have a high school level education. You don't know it for a fact. If I put the Blue K on him-"

"If he agrees to it, you mean."

"Which I am NOT."

"If I put it on you," she continued. "it might just make the pregnancy more normal."

"It won't make Kon-El normal."

" Connor doesn't need to be normal. I just don't want the hormones to hurt him."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "I know what you're angling for. I'm not as inclined to see the good in everybody as Kal is. I don't buy your stupid sob story. You lost a lot? Fuck you. I lost my whole Rao-dracu world, every person I ever met. My mother, my father, my friends, my culture, everyone but Kal. So you sniffling and whining about the baby Lex faked and something that happened nineteen years ago is not going to fucking sway me."

"But I-"

" I don't fucking care, and I'm not going to buy 'Aunt Nell's' no matter how much you peddle it, and I won't watch you bat your eyes and lie about how this is just the thing you want to make Kon-El healthy, because it's not. You slept with a Kryptonian. Repeatedly. You got him pregnant with a Kryptonian child. You're having a Kryptonian child and Blue K now won't change that."

Lana's face was pinched so tightly that he could barely make out her eyes. "I'm not trying to do that."

"Kara, please, she gets it. I'm not wearing any Kryptonite ever and I'm not going back to ISIS for anything more than the sonogram. That's it."

"It wouldn't work anyway."

"What wouldn't?"

"You couldn't make the telekinesis go away no matter what you did."

"But the Blue K-"

"Strips our powers. The telekinesis is only Kon's."

Clark turned and gaped at his cousin, "But Lana's normal and humans don't have powers."

"Well, I know we can't do that one."

"Kara, we can do everything else. Come on, here."

"No, you don't understand. I told you that we're not like Martians. We're not psychically sensitive. We just aren't. We've met a dozen different telepathic and psychokinetic species over the years. We've tried engineering. You think the male pregnancy bit was the only thing we tampered with?"

"Oh, I don't want to know."

"You do. We tried. We can't do the things J'onn can. We can't move things with our minds. However Kon's doing it, it's because he's got human in him. You could wear a three piece suit of Blue K and his power would still be there."

Lana was quiet and still for a disturbingly long time before she spoke. "You're lying."

"I'm not. Ask J'onn. Have Chloe make up some pretext to meet with him about Brainiac. He'll tell you the same thing. Kryptonians just aren't psychics. It's not in our nature. Kon-El is never going to be normal, Lana, and if you try taking Kal-El's powers from him, the baby might possibly never be born at all."

Clark shivered and placed a second hand over his bump. "We're not doing it. We'll wait it out. I'll just have to hope there isn't anything else with the heat vision. I just...this is the best I can do."

"Winging it?" Lana asked coldly.

"I've gotten this far with it."

"Exactly," she replied, shaking her head. "It's getting late and I have-"

"To fuck your ex-husband. Yeah, I've totally got that part," Kara snarked.

"No, I was going to say that I've got to go over lab tests with Schwartz. Today's blood sample was taken during a glitch. I'm not going to just hide and pretend everything's going to be okay when I can do something." She said stiffly, standing up and giving him a perfunctory kiss on the cheek."Get some rest, Clark."

"I'm not going back until Monday."

"I didn't ask you to, exactly, but I am asking you to think about it, for Connor's sake."

"Sunlight, rest, and the farm are what Dr. Kara prescribes," his cousin snarked, shaking her head as Lana headed out the door and to her SVU.

Clark set his head in his hands after the door slammed shut behind her. "That went well."

"Kal, you know she's-"

He didn't even have to think too hard before a few of the apples in the bowl on the table splattered. "I'm too tired to talk about it. I know what I'm doing and what I won't do. I won't go to live at ISIS. I won't go for more tests ever again, and I absolutely will not lose Kon. I won't put that crap on my wrist, ever."

Kara pulled her palm away and stood up. "I'm glad for that, little cousin. You know it's time. She's not welcome here anymore."

"I...but Kon."

"No mother is a hundred times better than one who'd strap a radioactive rock she knows her child gets sick from to him. Let her go, Kal. There's nothing left for you to give."

"I know."

Kara sighed, "I can't stay tonight. Chloe and I promised Ollie we'd help with some recon on a warehouse by the Metropolis harbor. We think Lex has a lab up and running again."

"Fuck. Do you need me?"

She shook her head. "It's a bigger League. Chloe's a meta herself now and Dinah kicks all kinds of ass. We'll be fine without you and you're not well."

"I know. I'm just sorry that you're taking up my slack."

"Rain check," she replied, shrugging. "When I'm pregnant-"

"Never happening."

"Right. When it comes time for Kon to have a little cousin of his own, you'll pull the double shifts."

"It's a deal...like in three centuries."

"Hey," she replied, brightening. "Jimmy has off tonight. You guys can do a buddy thing. I mean, I don't remember the last time you even hung out with a guy who wasn't Shelby or Kon."

"Me neither."

"Hey, I'll get him to bring more nails."

He perked up at that. "And sardines."

"Of course," she replied, patting his head. "Only the best for my little cousins." Then, her expression turned serious again. "Kal?"

"Yes?"

"Lana's full of shit. She just doesn't want to try. Jimmy and I sleep together fine and we never do it on the bed."


	21. Chapter 21

21

"I brought nails-several different sizes-and I've got sardines. I've even brought some of that cherry pie in a can. If you could not combine all three in front of me, I'd appreciate it."

Clark sighed and took the groceries out of Jimmy's hands and started to fix a plate of just sardines and cherry pie filling. Ooh, and he might add some of that Cayenne pepper Lois had dropped by the farm the day after his "hangover." That could be pretty awesome.

Jimmy eyed Clark's plate warily and then, shrugging, pulled out a bag of potato chips and fixed a bowl for himself. "Ah, you can have some chips too, if you like."

Clark shrugged and, around a mouthful of fish added, "Chips and sardines? Nah, that'd be gross."

"You know, it's a testament to how much I love Kara and my arms intact that I don't take the easy set up you just gave me."

"To each his own," Clark replied, picking up his plate and sliding down onto the sofa and clicking on the TV. The Sharks have a game against the Gotham Knights. I figured that would be worth watching.

Jimmy sat down on the other end of the sofa, giving the two of them some much needed space. It was a guy code thing. "That's fine. I, uh, don't like football, actually. I really like the Wolverines better."

"It's December, no baseball," he said, flipping the channel. "Ooh, Simpsons . That's cool, right?"

"Definitely."

"Yeah."

It took about five minutes before Homer strangled Bart. It took Jimmy five minutes after that to try the talking thing. "So, uh, how's it going?"

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Aren't we supposed to just stare at the TV and then laugh at Bart's antics and then never speak of feelings again?"

"Technically, yeah, but Kara put me up to this."

"Hey!"

"Not like that. I knew you first. We're friends."

"Well, yeah."

"Cool, but Kara was kind of worried and she might have mentioned something about too much chick stuff."

Clark sighed. "It's the hazard of having only girl friends and a Lois. Even with me, you, Shelby, and Kon, we're totally outnumbered."

"And Connor's not even here yet."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Clark said, reaching for his stomach and then, realizing that Jimmy was watching him, he dropped his hand away. "Sorry."

Jimmy shrugged. "I hate to tell you this, CK, but I kind of figured out you were pregnant. It's a little obvious now."

"Just a little?"

"Okay, blatant, but you don't have to be all weird about the resting your hand on Connor. I'm not going to grab a pitchfork or anything."

Clark narrowed his eyes at him, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words, Olsen?"

"Nah, I'm a photographs guy," Jimmy said, completely oblivious.

"Right."

"So, seriously, I...uh...heard that Lana probably isn't coming back to the farm."

He snorted. "Did Kara do a happy dance for that one?"

"She was ecstatic, but Chloe seemed about ten times happier. Hell, Lois wants to buy you a present. She'd have made it champagne but you're you know."

"Pretty much a beached whale. Wait, Kara came by The Planet?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she and Chloe went off for something even I can't know about."

"Sorry. The superhero thing is about secrecy."

"Oh, I get it," Jimmy replied dreamily. "She's got the Warrior Angel life style and it's so cool. I'm kind of glad to be the towel boy in all of this. But, you finally decided to get her out of here?"

"Everyone's excited about that," he replied glumly. "I...I know it's probably better this way."

"Probably? CK, I know I'm new to this whole thing, but I can guess that the Kryptonite isn't all that good for Connor's health."

His eyes widened. "Kara's the worst secret keeper ever."

"No, sometimes she gets into jams, but she is smart enough to have a cell phone. There was this thing with some green meteor rocks and a meteor mutant at the ravine. I have one nice save on my record."

Clark let his heart stop racing from the thought of his cousin in trouble. She clearly was fine and had been for months. "Well, and Chloe could tell you this, but sometimes humans save the day just fine."

"Yeah, I gathered she was helping you out a lot even before she found out she was meta. It's just, I think this is for the best. I never really liked Lana anyway. I could see that whole manipulative bitch thing a mile away, femme fatale, the whole deal."

"Jimmy, you don't really have to cheer me up."

"No worries, CK. I'm happy to do it."

Except he sucked at it. Having someone tell him about how bitchy Lana was, was not helping. It just gave him flashes of all the stuff she'd done, the things that Kara has labeled as Evil Lady Luthor actions.

"I know, but she's Kon's mom."

"I don't think you get to keep that title after the suggested child poisoning."

Clark sighed and set his plate aside. Then he settled his head in his hands. "I've made so many mistakes."

"CK, really, I know that Connor wasn't exactly planned, but he's not a mistake."

This time he did grab his stomach. "No, I'd never mean that. I love Kon."

"So does everyone else it seems. Man, you should see the shower plans. It's going to be legendary."

"Low key, on the farm please."

"No way. Kara's inviting Oliver Queen, of all people, and I think he's going to accept. You, CK, have so many powerful friends."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. "No, I'm glad Kon's here. It's just that I don't know. I just wish that he weren't half Lana's." And it was funny to say that out loud because he'd spent the first six months wishing desperately that Kon wasn't half his . He loved his son; he'd just wished that he could have kept him normal.

But that was never going to be Kon's destiny in the first place.

Now, though, he just felt sick about everything that had happened with Lana. He'd tried so hard and she still wanted tests. He understood that she was scared. He was terrified and he still needed someone, somewhere to look after his medical care, but he just...he couldn't live with her anymore.

He might be able to let her have some way to see Kon and they might be civil enough to get through the last of his just check-ups, but he couldn't live like this anymore, not exiled to the sofa, not struggling to defend her with lies so transparent, he could have told them.

He still couldn't prove that Nell's meant Lex's, but she'd smelled of scotch, and she'd lied so many times before.

"CK?"

"Oh, yeah," He said, shaking his head. "Sorry I spaced."

"It's cool. You have a lot on your mind nowadays. CK, can I ask you a question?"

"Just did."

"I'm serious. If anyone could have been Kon's mother, erm, other parent...uh, you know what I mean."

Clark sighed. "Whatever dignity or manly pride I had left got shredded by the first sonogram. But you want to know who'd I pick now if I got a do-over."

"I think I know," Jimmy replied. "And it's so not Lois."

Clark shuddered. "Oh god, a kid with Lois's personality and my superpowers. He'd be supreme leader of all in a week and nothing but 80s hairbands would be on the radio."

"It's probably better for civilization as we know it that that didn't happen. You know, I always thought you and Chloe were screwing behind my back."

Clark's eyes widened at Jimmy's coarseness. "It's funny you should put it that way, since you and Kara have been having sex for months without telling me."

"Kara's twenty, at the very least, and she doesn't have to report to you."

"I know. I just wanted her to be more careful than I apparently was," He replied, ruefully, clutching at his stomach.

"We are," Jimmy said, shifting nervously. "Please don't kill me now."

"I won't. You make her happy and she'd kill me if I let anything happen to you." He sighed and shook his head. "You really thought that Chloe and I would have done that to you?"

"Not now, but I didn't know or understand everything then. What was I supposed to think? You supposedly live almost three hours away, but you're always on her desk. Every time you ask for a favor, even on our dates, she drops everything for her. And you should see her when she talks about you. Her whole face lights up. She was never that way about me."

"You talk like it's all present tense. She loved you a lot. You were her guy ."

"Only because you wouldn't step up to the plate. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, believe me. I'm over it and Chloe and I are good friends now. It's better this way, but I know what I was seeing...am still seeing. She's totally gone on you."

"Right," he replied, snorting. "I've disappointed her too many times. Fuck, I'm pregnant with another woman's child-"

"Only in your world is that a possibility. Ah, CK, you are sure that it's not like communicable, right?"

"I promise, Jimmy. Only I'm this lucky."

"Cool, and I don't think she cares about where the rest of Connor's DNA. It is DNA right?"

Clark shrugged. "We're not carbon-based."

"Wicked."

"You, Olsen, are as warped as Chloe and Lois."

"Great minds. When Lex is finally gone, The Planet's style of journalism is never going to be the same."

"Inquisitor stuff."

"Hardly, but we like the unusual."

"And too many comics rotted your brain."

"Maybe, maybe not, but I know Chloe pretty well now. She loves Connor probably more than even you. She doesn't care that he's Lana's."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

"I'm not ready for anything right now, and she's never going to believe that this isn't just another down swing in the roller coaster of me and Lana. I just...seriously, why would she have me?"

"Dude, are you serious?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So you're a state-winning quarterback who had scholarship offers from every big program out there. You're nauseatingly tall and good-looking and not in the 'I'm secretly gay way' but in the 'I get so sick of every woman in the basement sighing at you' way. Plus there would be about a dozen superpowers."

"Right. Then there's the part where I'm the last of my entire species and apparently just barely a guy."

"Huh, I thought-"

"We're not finishing that line of questioning. I mean, I am, but the pregnant thing really messes with a guy's self esteem."

"You know, I feel uniquely qualified to speak here."

"You've been pregnant?"

"Oh thank god no. Not that you don't look all glowing and all that other great stuff."

"Don't try and cheer me up anymore."

"Can do, but Lana and I are the only two people on the planet who've had long term relationships with Kryptonians. I've been dating Kara almost as long as Lana's lived on the farm and, technically, I think we've had more sex."

"She's my cousin!"

"Okay, backing away from that subject. However, I've done the whole traveler significant other thing."

"What's your point?"

"Lana's a bitch."

"That's a running theme of the day," he replied.

"CK, it's not some great burden dating Kara just because she wasn't born here. I mean, okay, she might have sprained things on accident a few times and I kind of miss having a headboard that isn't charred into ashes-"

"Move on."

"Yeah, well, my point is that I don't care where she's from or what she can do. I think it's amazing, really. She's probably the coolest person I'll ever meet and it's not just the fanboy stuff about how she can fly. By the way, how's that going?"

"Only in my sleep. It's a pain sometimes."

"I'm sure you'll get it before Kon does."

"Gee, thanks."

"I live to help. Anyway, it's not even the powers. She's selfless and she helps people. She's funny as Hell, even if she doesn't mean to be half the time."

Clark chuckled despite his mood. "Her less-than-perfect-mastery of expressions is pretty funny."

"Exactly, and she's strong, not in the I can lift 10,000 pounds way. She lost everything...you both did, technically, and she doesn't cry about it all that much. She just picked herself up, embraced being marooned on an alien planet, and built a whole life for herself and then the universe threw all of you a huge curve ball and she's serving as the impromptu obstetrician.

She's amazing."

Clark smiled at the awe he heard in Jimmy's voice. "You really do love her?"

"Why wouldn't I? She's one of the best women I know."

"Yeah, but she's not...I mean, we're not-"

"Human?" Jimmy asked, shrugging. "In the long scheme of things there are tons of worse things you could be. In Kara's case, a massive bitch. In yours, some kind of psychopath who keeps labs full of meteor-infected to torture and cut into. Really, there are a lot of humans-millions of them out there-who are far less human than you've ever been."

"But we're different."

Jimmy shrugged and shoved some more chips into his mouth, "And it's awesome. I mean, so you float in your sleep. Kara does too."

"I don't like thinking about how you know that. I...she, uh, mentioned that today."

"I know. Please don't kill me."

"Not today," he replied, eating another sardine, bones and all.

"Still, it's an adjustment but it can be done. She just wraps her arms around me-"

"No more details please."

"Anyway, you could have taken Lana with you, if she'd wanted it. It's not weird. I think it's smoking cool, actually."

"Chlo says that," Clark replied softly.

"Where do you think I heard it from?"

"Yeah, she's pretty great too. Maybe after I get Lana's things moved out and work out, I don't even know what, doctors' visits maybe? Then I could ask Chloe out or something?"

"Try some Bogart. She likes that. Ooh, I bet she'd really dig His Girl Friday . I know a guy in archives who can get original film prints. That would be nice."

"Uh, thanks man."

"Don't thank me. I'm the messenger. Kara and Lois have been maneuvering this for three weeks."

"Damn, we are outnumbered," Clark said and then shifted a little, rubbing his stomach when Kon kicked. "Ouch."

Jimmy's eyes widened. "He's awake?"

"And how."

"Is he gonna, um-"

"Do the whole poltergeist kind of route?" Clark asked wryly. "No. If he gets really upset, which mostly happens around his mot...Lana, things shatter. But otherwise? It's just kicking."

"Oh, cool."

"Jimmy?"

"Yeah, CK?"

"You're staring at my stomach."

"Well it's on commercials."

"You're palm is half way to my stomach."

"Ah, yeah. Okay, look, I promise on pain of death never to talk about or ask this again, but could I just this once-"

"You want to touch my stomach?" Clark asked, horrified. He shifted closer to the arm rest. "Wrong cousin."

"Of course, because I'm totally like that. Come on, man. I'm dying of curiosity here."

"That is not winning me over."

"I feel left out. Lois and Chloe's hands are practically glued there."

"Not Lois's," he groused. "Fine, just this once, only , and Kara will never know this happened."

"Agreed," Jimmy said resting his palm on Clark's belly and taking in a sharp breath when Kon kicked. "Wow, he is strong."

"Hand now."

"Oh, right, of course," Jimmy said, withdrawing his hand. "Really, that was pretty cool. So you don't ever get like these Sigourney Weaver flashes?"

"Huh?"

"You know Alien ? Is there stomach bursting or something?"

Clark paled and felt nauseous. "No! Of course not. There's not bursting anywhere."

"So how does he-"

"We're done now. Look, Mr. Burns just did something evil, laugh."

"Look, I was just curious. I've pretty much figured how Kara would have our kids."

"Oh you are not having kids ever. She's going to live in some kind of protective foam bubble or something."

"Yeah right. I'm just...I cannot do the math on this one."

"It's better if you don't," he snapped.

"God, Kara's right. You are so bitchy."

"I am not," he replied, biting into some of his nails and grinning when Jimmy finally registered the use of his speed. "You people just annoy me."

"Uh-huh. I'm just saying, big guy, this whole thing is a question for the ages."

"It is not and, oh God." He said, bolting up from the couch.

"Oh God what?"

"It's Kara. Her heart's stopped."

Clark hadn't ever run faster in his life and he thanked whatever crazy gods were out there that looked after aliens that he wasn't glitching on the speed right then. He never consciously listened to Kara anymore than he did Chloe or his mother or Kon. There were just four heartbeats that made up the white noise of his life and he was innately attuned to them. When Kara's just stopped, he'd felt the absence like a physical blow.

It weighed that heavy on him.

He couldn't trace Kara by her heartbeat, but he could trace Chloe. He took him five seconds to blur off from Jimmy and to reach Chloe outside of a warehouse on the edge of the harbor.

"Clark?" She gasped, grabbing at her chest when she realized he'd materialized next to her.

"Boy Scout, what the Hell?" Oliver asked.

It was then that Clark registered that it was only Chloe and Ollie in front of him.

"Where's everyone else?"

"It was recon. We sent Supergirl in to check things out first since you guy scan see through anything. The rest of the League is following up a lead on something in Star City," Oliver finally gave him a good look over. Clark was too panicked to care much, but it was pretty obvious how different he was from a year ago. The fact that he was wearing one of his older t-shirts and it was stretched to the tearing point just made it moreso. "Clark are you?"

"Not now. Where is she?"

"Clark, what's wrong?" Chloe prodded.

"Kara's heart stopped. I can't hear her at all. Where is she?"

"No, that's not possible. She had five more minutes until rendezvous and she has a comm link. If anything happened-"

"Something did," Clark replied, grabbing Ollie by the shoulders. "You have to tell me what part of the building you last saw her in."

"Far east corner. Can't you?"

"Lead fucking paint," he replied, zipping into the warehouse before Oliver could reply.

"God, Kara! Kara please! You have to help me out here," he shouted, speeding through the bottom floor. As he raced up the stairs, he finally registered noise in the building. He'd been listening so hard for her voice or her heart beat to restart, that he hadn't even noticed the other individuals in the building. He could hear them now, two men arguing and trying to drag something out the fire escape.

Kara.

Clark burst through the door at the farthest end of the hall and stepped back at the sight of the familiar glow.

"Put her down!"

The two men, dressed in the tailored suits Lex's security detail preferred, had her suspended between their arms. "Boss wants this one so I don't think so."

"Let her go," He said, hesitating at the doorway. Each of the men had a pendant of Kryptonite-about ten times the size of Lana's necklace-around their necks. Duct taped to his cousin's chest was a piece of green K the size of a baseball. "Take it off of her."

"I'm not going to bargain with you," One of the men said, shooting at Clark. He rolled his eyes and shifted into superspeed, easily avoiding the shots. Out of spite, he reached up to pull the last one out of thin air.

He screamed when it sliced through him like Van's bullet had all those years ago.

God, he'd never checked to see if his invulnerability had come back.

It'd been six hours and he just assumed it had.

Clark cursed and clenched his right hand to his chest. "I...put her down."

"Yes, we're intimidated now. The other one put up more of an effort."

Kara, oh god.

Wait, she'd done this for him before with the beauty pageant.

Clark took a deep breath and concentrated, forcing his heat vision into a fine stream that seared the green K to black and then into nothing. He'd tilted his head and was praying that he could do the same thing without accidentally slicing into Kara when the rock exploded into a million particles that were quickly carried away by the wind of the open window.

"God, a guy could get used to that," Clark replied, blurring into superspeed and knocking both the guards across the floor.

Wasting no time, he set Kara gently on the ground. "Come on," he begged, giving her CPR, the way he had when he'd found her in the D.D.S. "Kara, come on. One, two, three..." he paused to give her a breath. Press and breathe, press and breathe.

After the fourth round, Kara sat up and gasped. Her heart beat was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Kal-El?"

Hugging her was awkward with Kon between them. "You moron. 'It's just recon,' my ass. The whole League wasn't here."

"Kal, Kara can't breathe."

"Oh, right," he said, pulling away. "You scared me. Don't ever do that again."

"I won't, Kal, if you promise not to run off half-cocked and fuck!" She shouted running around him and crashing into the first recovered guard. He'd had a drawn gun and leveled at him. Clark was rushing over to help her with him when he felt the stab of pain in his back.

Then he felt nothing at all.

Clark woke up to see Chloe staring down at him. Shifting his position, he was able to figure out that he was in one of the guest rooms of Ollie's penthouse in Metropolis. "Chlo?"

Her arms were around him so fast that he'd have thought she was the one with superspeed. "Goddamn it, Clark! We had that under control."

"I missed you too," he said, pulling away from her. "What happened?"

"You got shot, you idiot. Kara said your powers glitched at ISIS today. Why in the world did you come here?"

"Kara was dying ," he said as if that should be obvious.

"Ollie and I could have handled it."

"Lex's 33.1 ringers were dragging her off when I got there."

"God, Clark. I'm sorry. We've worked so well together so far. Nothing like this has ever happened."

"It's why I'm here. I know I have to stay healthy for Kon but it won't be worth it if I lose her because of it. I have to take care of both of them. We're all there are."

"I know."

"I...is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's yelling at Ollie as we speak about his lack of intel."

"That's my cousin," he said proudly. "Did you?"

"Pull a Lazarus act with you? No, Kara sped you here and removed the bullet herself, but once she got it out, your powers must have come back online. You were sleeping it all off though. It's almost 10 AM."

"Your job."

"Perry's got it covered, trust me." She smiled and leaned down to hug him again. "You had me so worried. Kara spared enough time to tell us what was happening and you were so pale. It was like with Gabriel all over again."

"I'm here," he replied.

Chloe laid her right palm on his stomach. "You're both here. My nephew's okay, isn't he?"

Clark squinted down at Kon. He'd rolled over enough to angle his body to the rays of the sun that the large windows were letting in. Perking up his ears, Clark counted.

Four heartbeats.

One steady and strong although slighted muted by being across the Atlantic.

One beating with a fast ferocity. Kara's. She was pissed.

One so quick it whirred in his ears. Connor's and as healthy as always.

The final one a vibrant rhythm, one he'd been listening to for comfort for over a year.

"He's fine. He's sleeping, but he's totally unfazed by everything."

She smiled and he grinned back at her. "That's great, but if you ever pull something like this again, I'll let Kara kill you herself and then I won't be resurrecting you, you dumbass. You scared all of us."

"Well Kara scared me so we're all even."

"Not good enough," Chloe said, slipping into the sheets and next to him on the bed.

"What happened to boundaries?" He asked.

"Fuck them. I'll worry about them later. You almost died. Kon almost died. I couldn't live with that. Besides, I heard that you're not inviting Lana to come back to the farm after she finishes with her latest ISIS research."

"No, I'm moving her stuff to her aunt's tomorrow. Whether Nell is surprised to see Lana after months of 'visiting' or not, I have yet to see. I want to believe that what Kara's been ranting about isn't true."

"Clark, you don't have to talk about this."

"I know," he said, leaning down and wrapping his arms around her. He'd have liked to roll over and draw her close to his belly, but he couldn't. He stopped even sleep-floating on anything other than his back a week ago.

Chloe fixed that problem by scooting lower, pillowing her head between his stomach and his chest. "Don't scare me like that again. I was so worried."

"I'm immortal."

"Kon's not. I can't lose him before he's even born. Hell, I can't lose you and if anything happened to him, you'd never be right again."

"No, I wouldn't, but it was Kara. If you or Kara or mom were ever in danger like that, I'd never hesitate. No matter what. I wouldn't place any of you over the other."

"Kon matters more than me. He's family."

" You're family."

"Not the Kara-kind, though?"

"I'm actually relieved we aren't blood family."

"Why?" She asked picking up her head and looking him in the eyes.

"Because then this would be so inappropriate," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. Chloe wrapped her arms around his shoulders and threaded his fingers through his hair. Their kisses were frantic, burning with an urgency that contrasted the nine years of lead up to all of this. Chloe was pressing tighter against him, her tongue teasing deeper and deeper, when it happened.

"Hey!" She called indignantly, pulling away from him for a second. Leaning down, she glared at his stomach. "Can you give us a minute here?"

Clark blushed, "I'm sorry. He, uh, has this conspiracy against me."

The rest of that sentence felt like it should be getting laid .

Chloe smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his stomach, ducking away a little when Kon shifted. "No way, mister. I might self heal but I am not taking it on the chin from you."

"Chlo, you don't have to."

"I don't have to what?" She asked, propping herself up a little on one elbow. Her other hand, as always, was tracing delicately over Kon.

"I know this is really, really disgusting."

"Right, it totally is," she replied, leaning in to kiss him again.

He was just enjoying it and halfway convinced that Kon wouldn't restage the World Cup right then, when someone coughed. "Watchtower, Boy Scout, I'd rather you didn't ruin the bed."

"We're not," Chloe yelped as she hopped off of him. "I..." she frowned at Clark. "I didn't mean to do that. It wasn't very professional."

"Far be it from me to interrupt fun times," Oliver said.

"Right," Clark conceded, pushing himself up with some effort into a sitting position. He tried pulling the sheet back up to his chest, but the insufferable smirk told him that Oliver had it all figured out.

"So, Clark, when are you due?"

Clark sighed theatrically. "You didn't tell the others did you?"

"Are you kidding? Kara helped me take some digital pics to send to Cyborg while you were out. I think I could hear Impulse laughing from here."

"Oh man."

"Oh, A.C. offered to consult with Kara."

"Why?"

"Male seahorses," Chloe supplied. "They carry the babies."

"I see," Clark replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "You think Bart's still laughing?"

"I think he'll get over it. He demanded to take the phone and then he and Kara were trading advice over shower gifts. I think he's aiming for baby sneakers, myself."

"This is so embarrassing."

"You were just never going to tell us? I'm hurt."

Clark arched an eyebrow at his tone. Ollie really did sound genuinely hurt that Clark hadn't let him in on everything. He kind of wish he'd gone to Ollie's doctors first instead of Lana's. Yeah, Lex had poached his staff once before but there'd never been extortion involved before. "You wanted to know?"

"We're friends, and I could have helped with some stuff, besides the diamond fencing."

"That was a huge help," Chloe added. "Now Connor can go to Columbia. They have an awesome journalism program."

"Watchtower the helicopter mother."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm not at all."

Oliver smirked wider at him. "Oh, so it's an alternative lifestyle thing. Well, that's a new one. But we all kind of think A.C. swings that way, so you are totally fine here man."

"I'm not gay! Why do people keep assuming that?"

"You're the one who's pregnant!"

"That sounds so bad."

"It's true," Chloe conceded. "Lana's the mom. I have no idea how this works. If you need the biology stuff, ask Kara."

Oliver looked back at Clark and, much like Jimmy had yesterday, he turned a bit green. "I'm good. So, Lana got you pregnant?"

"It was a mutual thing, and this is really embarrassing. Now you know why I don't go out in public anymore."

Oliver's smirk faltered and he sighed. "Clark, everything is copasetic. The Bros aren't going to make fun of you anymore than we do the can opener or the fishboy."

"And they say we're the good guys."

"Really, they're all really excited for the shower. Kara said there'd be a slip and slide and a donkey."

"Why would there be a donkey?"

Chloe sighed, "She has party games mixed up. She thinks it's literally putting a tail on a donkey."

Oliver shook his head. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Where is it you two are from again?"

"Uh, Eastern Europe. It's a whole Cold War, pump babies full of steroids thing."

Oliver sighed. "You're going to need a better lie than that one. I'd have bought something nuts like you're a space alien over that one."

"Heh, about that-" Clark started and then flinched when J'onn crashed through the window.

Oliver groaned. "I am sick of letting you borrow the penthouse. You never leave it like you found it and all your friends ruin everything. I assume you are a friend of Clark's."

The Manhunter straightened his nifty Shaft coat and glared at Clark. "I'm his guardian."

"Hmm, are you from the U.S.S.R. too?"

"I'm a Martian."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "You are really shitty liars, Clark. I'll help you work on something better for next time. Watchtower, Guy who'll be paying to replace my window," He added as he slipped back out of the room.

"That was fun," Chloe quipped, reaching out and taking Clark's hand.

"Chloe, what did you do?"

"Me? Wait. Why am I the one in trouble?"

"You're the mother, aren't you?"

"Aren't you psychic?" She reminded him.

"I don't invade peoples' privacy like that."

"I see," she replied, tiredly. "I'm not the mother, J'onn. Lana was living on the farm last time you visited."

"I see," J'onn sighed and shook his head. Turning to Clark he frowned. "Kal-El, do you have any idea what you've done?"

He rubbed his stomach and stared back at the Martian. "I'm beginning to have an idea."

"How are you faring?"

"I...what do you mean?"

"You've started glitching, obviously, I wouldn't have felt that kind of pain emanating from you if you hadn't been injured seriously. What happened?"

"Kara got in trouble and I tried to fix it. My invulnerability was out at the time and I ended up a little shot."

"A little."

"He healed fine and his invulnerability is back, J'onn."

"Chloe, I expected more from you. You've been so helpful in my search for Brainiac, but you kept this from me."

"Blame later, explain glitching now because Kara's been a font of nothing."

"I've known Kryptonians for a long time."

"I've noticed," Clark replied, squeezing Chloe's hand a little. "So what?"

"You're not the first Kryptonian to have a child with a human."

"The Kawatchee."

"Among other tribes. There've been cases in Egypt and China as well."

"I'm not surprised, actually."

"You are the first Kryptonian man-"

"Barely these days," Clark grumped.

"You're still the first male I've ever known who was pregnant. It's not a custom of your people any more, certainly not by the time they started trading with ours."

"No shit," Chloe grouched.

"Chlo, it's cool," Clark replied. "When it happened with the others, what took place exactly?"

"Most of the pregnancies were successful. If you took the time to trace the DNA of certain ethnic groups, you'd find anomalies, gifts of a sort from your ancestors. It is possible under the yellow sun to interbreed."

"And that makes me feel like a zoo animal just that much more."

"You know what I mean, Kal-El. It has happened before here, but only a handful of times, and, from the records I've seen, they were not easy pregnancies."

"You can say that again."

"His powers are fading in and out. He's exhausted all the time and some things are in over drive-he's floating in his sleep and his heat vision has been flaring."

"I'm not surprised. It's only going to get worse from here."

"Worse?" Clark gaped and he tensed enough that something crunched.

"Fuck. J'onn, could you not panic the Kryptonian when he has my bones in his hands, please?" Chloe said, yanking out her hand and willing it to heal.

"Jesus, Chlo. I'm sorry. I've never-"

"Shh," she said, patting his shoulder with her now healed hand. "It's fine. I blame J'onn, not you. Don't frighten him like that. Fuck, don't frighten me. What do you mean worse?"

"The glitches started out as maybe minutes or seconds, right?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head.

"They'll change. They've already gotten more frequent and longer, haven't they?"

"Some of them. The invulnerability was out for half a day."

"By the end of the pregnancy, I don't know how many of your abilities you'll have left or what condition they'll be in."

"You don't know either?" Chloe demanded, putting her hands on her hips. If he wasn't so scared, Clark would have laughed. Chloe, despite her amazing ability, was nowhere near a physical match for the Manhunter, but he could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was thinking of giving it a try.

"These are the archaeological anecdotes of his people. It's not necessarily my area."

"My biological parents should have sent along a doctor," he mumbled. "What can I do about the glitches? The heat vision?"

"I do not know yet, Kal-El. I'll have to review what I know of your people, and what I can recall from the records."

"Is Kon going to be alright?" Clark asked, his voice nearly a whisper. Chloe's other hand had slipped easily into his. It made him feel less alone.

"Kon is?"

"My son."

"I see. I do not know. Most of the pregnancies went to term, but not all of them were successful, even with your abilities here. And there hasn't been a male pregnancy in so long, let alone one for an alien child. For not the first time in your life, you are unique."

"Perfect."

"But will the baby die?" Chloe pressed, her voice rising in pitch.

"I cannot predict that, but that is not my biggest concern. In the pregnancies that went wrong, it was not just the infants who were lost."

Clark's heart stopped right there and he had to remind himself not to crush Chloe's hand in his grip. "I...what?"

"Kal-El, you should never have done this. There is a substantial chance that this could kill you."


	22. Chapter 22

22

It took everything Clark had not to shatter Chloe's hand in his grip, not that she wouldn't have just healed it right back up again, but it was rude to break your best friend's hand if you could avoid it.

"J'onn, what are you...you have to be wrong. I can't be dying."

The Manhunter shook his head. "I didn't say you were dying, exactly."

"Exactly!" He yelped.

Chloe glared at the Manhunter. "Did you never learn any tact like at all? I mean, aren't you a cop? Don't you have practice in the consoling arena?"

"I do, but I am not here to console Kal-El. I'm here to try and fix what he's ruined."

Chloe stepped forward until she was nose to chest with him. "He didn't ruin anything."

J'onn slid back and focused on him, "You've made a terrible mistake."

Clark's hands were now both clenched over Kon. It was slightly irrational. If what Kara had told him was true, the Manhunter couldn't try anything to end the pregnancy. If he did that, they'd both certainly die, instead of face the less-than-favorable odds ahead of them. "He's not a mistake."

Chloe's glare had reached scorched Earth levels if she had the visions he and J'onn had been gifted with. For not the first time, Clark was glad that she had not been given a more destructive power. He trusted her implicitly, but a pissed off Sullivan-Lane girl was enough to scare even him. Factor in infinite strength or heat vision...

Nope, Chloe was pretty terrifying pissed off.

"You won't say that again, J'onn or I'll run for the matches. I can keep a zippo handy."

J'onn nodded. "I'm sorry, I have not intended to come off as harsh, but I am deeply concerned about what's happened."

" You're concerned?" Clark asked. "You're the one who gave out the death sentence and you're concerned?"

Chloe's hand was back on his shoulder. "Shh, less panic now, more information instead."

"Okay," he agreed, taking in a shuddering breath. "J'onn, you have to explain better, please."

"I'm trying, Kal-El. You may care very much for your son."

"Understatement," Chloe groused.

"I see," J'onn replied, studying them both. "But it was very foolish of you to attempt starting a family with a human."

"No one told me this could happen. The AI has never brought this minor point up in the last seven years," he groused, pointing at his stomach in case J'onn were confused about which 'this' he was referring to. "Kara and you both forgot to mention it too."

"For this, I apologize. It's a footnote of your-"

"Yeah, we heard about the Kryptonians fun with genetic engineering," Chloe replied. "But it's a lot less footnote-y now."

"Tell me about it," he replied, wincing just a little when Kon stirred. Of course he was worked up.

"I am sorry for not mentioning it, Kal-El. In the middle of trying to stop the phantoms or pursue Brainiac, I've kept our conversations focused on business. Of course, I never suspected that this would be the result."

"You knew Lana and I were living together," he replied evenly.

"I did, but this only comes to pass when-"

"I know. Lana's barren but I didn't know that when we started."

J'onn quirked his head. "Yet, you've lived on this planet for many years. Have you not mastered the use of a condom?"

Clark blanched. It was as bad as having this conversation with his father. Actually, that conversation had been worse and he was pretty sure no other kid in history had gone through it. When he'd been eleven, his father had explained everything to him in the loft, making sure to wait for a weekend when his mother was visiting Metropolis so that the two of them wouldn't be interrupted. Clark had suffered, beet red, through all of the hows and mechanics of it, through his father's embarrassed stutter.

Then, he'd looked across the loft and spied the baseball bat he'd managed to mangle accidentally while playing with Pete the previous week.

Even at eleven, he'd done the math.

His father, in that easy way he'd had, had noticed the direction of his gaze and sadly admitted that he had no idea how it would work for him, exactly, but that they'd figure it out.

The way it had been phrased had not made Clark feel better, and it had taken a decade to recover from it.

Clark sighed and rubbed a small circle against his belly, trying to get Kon to go back to sleep. Yes, he'd definitely gotten over it.

"I...they don't work," he replied, feeling the color spread across his cheeks. "I thought Lana was being responsible."

J'onn's eyes narrowed, "I shall be talking with her eventually."

"That might be difficult," Chloe replied. "She's not living on the farm anymore."

Clark sighed, "I might have been premature on that."

"Clark?"

He looked down at his bump and hung his head. "I can't kick her out now, can I? It wouldn't be right. I was hiding my illness from her because I didn't think it was serious, and now it very much is. What kind of person throws the mother of his child out when the child's sick. Lana...she's done a lot of questionable things."

"She suggested strapping Blue K to you permanently," Chloe replied tightly.

"But she's tried very hard to take care of us. I...she did the lab rat thing, but she didn't mean to, and she was kind of right. Now I am sick and J'onn and Kara don't know anything."

J'onn frowned. "I have not had time to research. I did not say that I was without resources."

"I know, but there aren't any medical records from Krypton, obviously, and you said so yourself. There's never been a case like mine at all-both because of who I am and how different Lana and I are from each other. Lana's been keeping records-"

"Yeah, creepy probably evil records," Chloe groused.

"-For five months, almost. Her team knows the most about me. I...I shouldn't shut her out. It's wrong anyway. If I were to...I mean, if Kon were..." he said, trailing off and choking back the end of that sentence. He couldn't even voice the thought of miscarrying.

"Clark?"

"Lana should be close if something happens. I don't know if she really loves me anymore." He smiled sadly for Chloe. "I think I'm too weird for that now, but she does care about Kon. If he were to...she'd want to be there for the end."

Chloe's hand squeezed him tighter. "There isn't going to be one of those."

"Because you won't let there be?" He asked sadly.

"Exactly. Clark, you really shouldn't go back-"

"Chloe, Lana's role in Kon-El's life is not what we're debating right now. That is a matter for much concern later, but, currently, I need to explain everything about his situation."

Condition, situation. Who knew that being knocked up had such nice euphemisms?

"Can you do less to vague it up for us?" She snarked. And he'd thought Kara and his mother were over-protective.

"Certainly. Kal-El in the other pregnancies, the few on record from here, the women involved and, forgive the term, but in their case they were all biologically female."

He sighed, "Goodbye pride. I'll miss you."

"I understand and I am sorry for the affront to your masculinity."

He rolled his eyes. "It's an odd time to be polite. I kind of gave up on a lot of that when I was too obvious to go out in public. I understand what you are trying to say. What happened in the other pregnancies?"

"Most of what's happening now. The records had no cases of heat vision that flared out of control, but the weakness of the parent was as well recorded as archaelogical anecdotes could manage."

"I see," Chloe said, "But what does that mean for Clark?"

"He'll mostly likely get very much weaker, although, I am not sure if it is by Kryptonian or human standards."

"What?"

"It is a given that by the end of the nine months-should the pregnancy progress that far,"

"It will," Chloe replied.

"I am more cautious in my assessments," he replied. "You will not have your strength or your invulnerability. As for your other powers? I do not know."

"I've been floating a lot," Clark confessed. "Every night when I sleep. Sometimes, it can take up to an hour for me to even crash in the mornings."

"The records are less clear on your more subtle abilities, but the loss of strength was always emphasized."

"But we're talking like Clark will just be as strong as your average six plus guy, right? I mean, yeah, pregnant and tired and stuff, but he's still a pretty healthy guy even if you took the powers away."

J'onn rubbed the underside of his chin with one hand. "This is where the anecdotes are spotty. I do not know how weak you could get. I'd certainly recommend bed rest and little else by the eighth month."

Clark paled. He was never sick. "I...are you sure?"

"No, but I have reason to suspect."

"I'll do that, anything for Kon."

"I wish it were that simple. The pregnancy is taking from you, but it's giving to Kon-El. He has started to show signs of having inherited your powers, hasn't he?"

Clark nodded, "Fighting makes him kick. I think his hearing is already very acute. He's strong. When it kicks it's mostly annoying, but sometimes, if he's riled up enough, he really hurts me ."

"His powers are just developing. The more often he is exposed to sunlight, the larger he grows-"

"He'll get stronger," Chloe finished.

"And I won't."

"No, in half the mixed pregnancies this was uncomfortable but not a massive problem. The mother's survived, but in the other half, the fetus was able to rupture organs at the end."

Chloe nodded and her other hand reached over to grab his. "They bled out didn't they? Hemorrhaged to death?"

J'onn, "Yes. With that amount of blood loss, that quickly, the child and mother were lost. It's a quirk of their biology to begin with."

"Quirk?"

He nodded, "Kara did tell how the veins are interconnected, fed directly through into Kon."

"I've seen it a thousand times."

"There's no placenta, no cord, just a network of direct blood flow. If Kon were to severe it accidentally before it was time-"

"We could both die."

"Yes."

"That's just stupid. J'onn, you know what I can do. You've come for me at least once to save your partner after a drug bust gone wrong."

Clark's eyes widened at that, "Chlo!"

She shrugged, "You've died once...you've died a hundred times. I'm past the bright lights and the metaphysical enlightenment. It's like a hiccup now."

"Where you're not breathing for eighteen hours."

"I don't remember asking you how to use my powers. If Ollie needs to be patched up or J'onn's partner is dying, how can I refused them?"

"Ollie's been using you like a Band-aid? I'm going to kill him."

"I'm sure he's extremely threatened by the six months' pregnant man," Chloe groused.

"Fine, I just... you shouldn't do that, Chlo. What if your power stopped working the way it does."

"It's been two years, almost. I'm fine."

"And this is ancillary at best," J'onn confessed. "Chloe, your power has worked very well on metas and humans, but there is no guarantee it would work on either myself or Kal-El. If it did, well, Kal-El requires a lot of energy to survive. It could kill you permanently."

"Never doing," Clark said firmly. "I'll got to ISIS or something. Maybe they can make medicine or supplements or something." He was reaching and he knew it, but, as bad as ISIS was, looming death-Kon's not his-was unthinkable. He had to do everything he could. "Or I can do the bed rest thing and just sun bathe all day, try and keep my powers as long as I can."

"Kal-El, I would not advise going back to a lab," J'onn was uncharacteristically angry when he spoke.

"I don't want to and not overnight, just maybe more consulting. I just...there has to be a way around this. You that fifty percent of the time, at least, everything worked out fine."

"There have only been ten reported cases. Do I need to explain statistical significance to a Kryptonian?"

"No."

"Then you know that's not enough to know anything other than that you are in a lot of danger. I advise bed rest starting now. You cannot, under any circumstances, do what you did tonight. You cannot be an active member of the League."

"Justice Bros."

J'onn arched a skeptical eyebrow and he shrugged, "No really."

"Fine, you cannot be an active Brother. Kara and I will be having a long talk about her being more responsible, and I will split time between tracking Brainiac and covering for the hole you've left behind."

"Thanks. I...my other abilities, not the strength or the speed, but the others, can I use them?"

"I would not advise the breath or heat vision either if it is within your control."

"I know, they expend a lot of energy. I just...I like to see him, listen to him."

J'onn, in the first time he had ever known him, cracked a small smile. "I do not see a problem in that, and, since you can't control the flying-"

"Floating, really," Chloe added helpfully.

"Since you cannot control that, I can not forbid you from doing it. If it's something you do naturally-"

"Kind of, if you define naturally really, really broadly," Chloe supplied.

"Then perhaps your body needs to do it."

Clark ducked his head. Yeah, he'd known about what he was for close to a decade now, but he still hated days like this. There was something insanely wrong and unfair in his world where him being the pregnant, floating alien was what he needed to be, what was "natural."

"Maybe I do need that."

"J'onn, there's something else," He said. "Kon's telekinetic."

The Manhunter considered him. He did not gape, but there was a rigidity in his posture that had not been there before. He had surprised him. "That I have never heard of."

"Perhaps the anecdotes were sketchy on that part," Clark replied. "I've been having these episodes. If I get upset, things shatter. I thought it was me because of something weird the hormones were doing."

"That's assuredly not possible."

"I know. Kara told me that Kryptonians aren't...that we aren't psychically sensitive."

"No, you are not like my people. It is not one of your abilities. It can't be."

Chloe's eyes were wide and she was almost as excited as she'd been when she'd first met Dinah. "Kon can move things with his mind?"

"I...he doesn't mean to. He's too little for that." Although, technically, he was just big enough to be viable in a NICU. "But when I get upset and it's too loud, he gets upset and you've seen what happens. Apparently that's all him."

Chloe grinned and rubbed affectionately at his stomach. "Kon, you're amazing."

"Well, the dished on the farm disagree and the apples too," he replied sadly as he turned back to J'onn, "Is that bad?"

"I have no idea, Kal-El. I do not think that will affect the course of the pregnancy. I am far more concerned about his strength."

"I...would it go away?"

Chloe frowned and stopped stroking. "But it's a gift."

"Like rising from the dead?" He asked pointedly.

"Fine, pot and kettle action. I get it, but it would be okay, you know. It takes the terrible twos to a whole new level, but it's just...smoking cool."

"I knew you'd say that," Clark replied, shaking his head. Chlo had no sense of normalcy anymore. Of course she was the self-healing (immortal) meteor mutant petting the pregnant male Kryptonian's stomach all while posturing for the telepathic Martian. "Oh man."

"What?"

"I was just wondering when my life turned into a Twilight Zone episode."

J'onn did smile that time. "I assume that would coincide with the day Lara and Jor-El put you in your ship."

"Good point," Chloe replied.

"Jor-El?" Clark gulped, paling. "The Fortress, are you going to tell it?"

"Why wouldn't I? It has access to the medical records of your people. It may be able to provide the missing information that I need."

"I...you can't. You know that it held me captive in ice."

"You did almost end the world."

"Zor-El did that," Chloe corrected.

"It's not just that. I think there's something seriously wrong with the AI, really. The first time it and I really interacted it branded me, then it tried to brainwash me and pretty much succeeded and it stripped my powers. It keeps punishing me and, yeah, I know I screw up a lot, but it's abusive. If it were able to start controlling Kon...can you imagine what an abused, confused, amoral Kryptonian could do?"

J'onn frowned. "I do not understand. Perhaps your ship was damaged somehow. Surely the Fortress must-"

"It's worse. It tried to freeze Chloe to death and killed my father and left Kara memoryless and vulnerable in Detroit. It's incredibly dangerous, J'onn. I don't know if Jor-El-"

"Your father."

" Jor-El ," Clark replied pointedly. "Was supposed to be as evil, but the Fortress isn't safe, not for me and Kara, and not for my son."

"The Fortress was constructed with the most advanced technology your people had to offer. The crystals hidden here are remote receivers, they'd been encoding the last five hundred years of technology upgrades. There is no system more advanced in this or a dozen other galaxies."

"And there's something wrong with it."

"You're not using it correctly," he conceded. "It was designed to function with the key from your ship and the four stones you recovered from around the Earth."

Clark's jaw hung open, "What?"

"The four elements-earth, air (you know that one, it's the symbol of your House), fire, and water."

Chloe frowned. "Lex had one he found in Egypt, and then Lana recovered one in China. Lionel had the third, the one he smuggled into prison. There isn't a fourth one."

"She's right, J'onn. When I put it together, it was only the three-air, water and fire. Maybe the key's the last piece?"

"No, there's a fourth stone. It was buried with the others." J'onn slipped into a quick litany of Martian. "You put the Fortress together, made it nominally operational, but it's only running at 75% of its capacity."

"We want it more powerful?" Chloe asked, horrified.

"No, 'earth,' it grounds things. That's the conscience for the Fortress, the addition to the AI which dictates limits, mimics morality as well as a computer could. My God, Kal-El, do you know what you've done?"

"Every time you say that, my life gets worse."

"You've put together a weapon with no contingency plans in place."

"Technically, if I don't go near it, it doesn't bother anyone. It's just that any time I show up, it tends to go hurt me ."

"You have to find the fourth stone."

"I'm too pregnant to quest."

"Not now, but after Kon is born and weaned then-"

"Hey! No weaning. There's not weaning because there is none of that. Nope, not going to happen."

"Denial is your most impressive power, Clark," Chloe marveled.

"Kal-El, how do you think he's going to eat?"

"Gerber's and you don't know this for a fact, right? It's all anecdotal. I mean, you didn't know about the TK, so I'm totally not turning into some kind of alien cow!" And he punctuated that rant by grabbing at the stitch in his side and wincing when the still intact window beside the mess J'onn had made shattered.

J'onn eyed the window's remains, "Remarkable."

"Not remarkable. Fucked up. We're both fucked up and now you're telling me that the records left here to help me are actually incredibly dangerous and I'm screwed?"

"Not screwed."

"That's a really ironic way to put that, Clark."

"You know what I mean. The Fortress might have been very useful in taking care of us or providing medicine and information Earth doesn't have, but it's psychotic. I always suspected, but you confirmed it. I can't go near it until it's fixed and neither can Kara. It already has it in for her."

"And you're the only who can affect it, for whom it will answer," J'onn replied.

"I know. We are on our own in this," he replied. "We have the long forgotten biology lectures Kara sat through and the anecdotes of my people that you've heard, but otherwise, we don't have anything at all. We're in the dark."

"I would not say that."

"Bullshit. You and Kara have no idea what's happening, do you?"

"Clark, calm down. It's not good for Kon if you get angry."

"But he just swoops in, gives apocalyptic news, and what? I'm supposed to be grateful 'You're probably going to bleed to death, Kal-El, but at least it'll happen before your Fortress blocks the sun again.'"

"Clark," she said, her voice softening. "Breathe."

"I am! Don't patronize me, damn it!" He winced again and this time one of the pretentious modern art sculptures (it looked kind of like a banjo and a sponge's bastard child) exploded into a shower of marble and stone.

"Whoa," Chloe replied, surveying the damage. "Okay, coolness factor of everything aside, Professor X, you will calm down. We can handle this. We just need some time. J'onn can find more records somewhere, even if he has to go to Shanghai to get them. Your mom and I are keeping you under bed rest and Kara's taking over the farm chores tomorrow; it was time anyway, and we will fix the Fortress. Hell, I can put Ollie on looking for the element tomorrow. We can do this, but not if you throw a tantrum and ruin the penthouse!"

Clark gulped, Chloe'd gotten angry again. "Sorry, uh, hormones."

"You're always this melodramatic. We are going to take care of this because fixing things is what I do. I'm the goddamned Wolf and I'm on clean-up."

"The what?"

J'onn chuckled. "Are you the Wolf? Does that make me Jules, then?"

Chloe smiled, "Well, you do have the badass Shaft coat."

"Now I'm confused."

"The Wolf's a movie character, Clark, and the Manhunter has a fondness for Samuel L. Jackson."

"He has inspired my latest look," J'onn replied. Clark gaped. He'd never seen his guardian as relaxed. It made him wonder just what sides of him were still out there, about the man his mother had been inviting to dinner and who had been working so closely with Chloe over the few months. "Kal-El, are you alright? You appear puzzled?"

"I...you're more human than I thought you were," he admitted, embarrassed by the hypocrisy in his statement.

"I suppose that statement is both mutual and a compliment. I am strict with you because someone needs to be, but I am much older than you think and Earth has been my adopted home much longer than it has been yours. I have nothing but respect for a race that brought me such a bad mother and Oreos."

"You are so an improvement over Zod. You can be dictator if it leads to viewings of the new Shaft and unlimited chocolate."

"Chlo!"

"What? That movie has sexy, evil Christian Bale in it and Oreos are the food of the gods. You should listen to J'onn more. He's got great taste."

Clark sighed, "Fine. I just...I need some time to think everything over, to rest."

"Very well, Kal-El. I have never met Oliver Queen officially, but I believe it is time now. You feel an obligation to the League or Bros as you prefer and they to you. I think Mr. Queen could be a great help in finding the missing stone and, perhaps, in helping me locate the records."

"Will you try explaining to him about the Kryptonian thing? I don't think he believed us."

J'onn nodded and then he melted-it was the only word for it-to reveal the large, green-skinned, red-eyed J'onn J'onz hiding beneath the surface. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "passing."

"I'm sorry." Clark said.

"Why?"

"I complain too much. I've never...I know I look human, most of the time," he qualified thinking of how unnatural he looked now or when he used his heat vision. "I didn't realize how hard it must be for you."

J'onn shrugged. "The shifting is second nature and I do not mind it, Kal-El, but I appreciate the sentiment." He finished, before walking out to speak with Olive and Kara.

Clark had a feeling the billionaire would believe them now.

"I never do quite get used to that."

"You've seen him like that before?"

"You haven't."

"I...I knew that Martians were shape shifters. Kara had mentioned it. I just never thought that he looked so, um, inhuman."

She nodded, "You're lucky, Clark, in some ways." She brought a hand to his cheek. "You're so very much like one of us. I've never seen the difference."

"I know, thank you," he said, sighing down at his bump. "Well, mostly human."

"Mostly fits me too."

"Chlo, I like the Cleaver moment, really, but you know what I have to do."

"Clark, please-"

"Chlo," he said firmly. "Hand over your cell. I need to call Lana. I...she needs to know this and I need to see her."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't need her."

"She's Kon's mom and I do need at least Dr. Russell. I've accepted that. Kon's sick and she has to know. I just...I can't kick her out of the family now, leave her worried about him. That would make me more of a monster than my powers do."

"You're not, Clark."

He shrugged noncommittally. "You know what I meant, just give me the phone, Chlo. I have a call to make."

Author's Notes:

1) The Wolf is a character from the Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction , which stars Samuel L. Jackson (oscar nom here totally worth seeing).

2) Thanks to CT and Mariko for the encouragement and I hope it brightens both ladies's day.


	23. Chapter 23

23

"We'll be here. Well, actually, I don't think J'onn's going to let me up. No, I...ten minutes? See you then," Clark replied, shutting Chloe's phone again and handing it to her.

"How are you going to explain the fact that Ollie knows who you and J'onn are?"

Clark sighed, "I can always just blame Lois's big mouth and say she let something about the whole alien thing slip in passing."

"She'd never do that."

"I can't be moved and we can't let her know Ollie's the GA."

"And yet it's a great idea to let her back in Kon's life."

Clark shook his head. "She's the mom."

Chloe rocked back a little and, when she answered, her voice was quiet and subdued, "And I'm not. I understand that, I do, but I never suggested poisoning Kon with radioactive space rocks either."

"She didn't..." Off her glare he amended, "Okay, she did, but she was reaching. From her perspective it looks like all the Blue K does is take away my sensitivity to the sun. Since my blood doesn't boil like with the green kind, she probably doesn't think it's as bad for me."

"All the kinds are bad. They all play with your body. If I had to expose you to a kind, I'd opt for the Blue-"

"Since it cripples me."

"Red makes you too dangerous, although, your id pretty much just wants to get laid and drive expensive sports cars."

Clark blushed and looked down at his hands, "I never had sex that whole summer."

Chloe quirked her head at him, "Huh?"

"I never had sex that entire time. Some of it was just wishing I could be with Lana, even drugged, I was really attracted to her and pretty much a one-woman guy."

Chloe's gaze intensified. "That, um, mating thing you mentioned-"

"It's not that, exactly." He sighed and looked down at his stomach. "When you say things like that it makes me sound so inhuman. I mean, they don't pair off the way we do."

"And Lana's the one, I get that," Chloe replied bitterly.

"I don't believe that anymore. I must never have really believed that. I had so many times Chloe to tell her who I really was- what I truly am-and I chickened out every time. She came to me after I saved her from the tornadoes and I could have confessed. She was leaving for Paris and I thought I'd never see her again. Hell, she came to my barn and gave me one of the stones for the Fortress. She must have known then, even if she didn't want to admit it, that if I were connected enough to the stones to have them belong to me, then I wasn't really from around here."

"But you did tell her, twice even."

"Because she was going to leave me. I was desperate both times and I did something maybe I shouldn't have done."

"You told me and I had you backed into a corner."

He looked back up at her and let a few, long fingers stray over her hand. "You asked me about why we were in the igloo. I had an out; I could have lied. I had the chance to just go, 'You have me pegged. I'm a meteor mutant but I have no idea why we're in Siberia either."

"The Yukon."

"Same difference. The point is you would have pretended that I was telling the truth, wouldn't you?"

"Well, the meteor-infected reveal is enough airing of private shame in one go. I wouldn't have pressed, but, it had crossed my mind that even though-thank you memory-loss guy-I'd seen you use your powers, I didn't understand them. There's no meteor mutant out there who has that many separate powers."

"I know and since then we can add superbreath, floating, since you never saw it, and pregnancy to the list."

"This one's awe-inspiring in its own way, but it's not exactly as fearsome as the heat vision."

"But somehow as embarrassing," he admitted. "I could have lied to you, but I didn't, Chlo. You didn't force me into it. With Lana, especially when I proposed, I felt like it was an ultimatum. Either I told her or she walked."

"To be fair, Clark, you can't marry a girl or, you know, um-"

"Sleep with her?"

"Yeah, without issuing the disclaimer. It's not a speciesist thing, even. It's more about you not wanting to surprise her when stuff scorches."

"I'm getting better at that."

"What you had before you proposed, while you were in college, it was a lie. It was a relationship built on the largest lie of omission in history. It was never going to work."

"It doesn't work now."

Chloe patted his hand. "Well, there are other ways to lie, Clark. You've given her everything there is to give. You've been more honest with her than you have with anyone except maybe me. You stopped keeping secrets and then hers began to mount. I mean, you were here, trying to be the best boyfriend you could-"

"The most human one?"

"I didn't say that."

"Not now, but last fall you were really frustrated with me for staying on the farm and doing my best impersonation of my dad."

"You were squandering your gifts."

"I don't want the responsibility, Chlo. I didn't ask for any of this."

"I didn't ask to be able to save peoples' lives. I can, and I have to deal with that. We're together in that, Clark."

"I just wanted what everyone else has so badly. I wanted to picket fence and the domestic bliss and a normal life. I wanted a child too, not this soon. I mean, a college diploma would have been nice."

"It will be nice," she amended.

"I wish I had your faith in me."

"Oh, I'm willing to share, don't worry."

"Thanks, Chlo. My point is that that's what I wanted and I tried so hard to get it, but, you know, my stupid biology always has other plans," he replied, rubbing his stomach ruefully.

"I know," she said. "But you tried to do the domestic thing which isn't really you."

"I am a farmer. I am that Smallville guy who used to play for the Crows. It's not an act," he huffed.

"No, it's not, I know that, but the guy who helps out the League or deals with Kara's bullshit or bears the weight of the world on his shoulders is also you. That's kind of where this whole thing started to fall apart."

"Because I'm Kryptonian."

"No, because you want to help people which, gotta be honest, that's as much because Martha Kent's your mom as it is because your biological father was supposedly some kind of folk hero or something."

"Weird thought."

"Well now we know for sure the AI is seriously fucked."

"I wish someone had told me that about three years ago or I'd have stopped showing up there," he replied.

"My point is that the helping-guy is you too and that doesn't fit Lana. She had no trouble whatsoever with how different-"

"Inhuman."

"Stop saying that. It's a matter of perspective. You're a lot more human than Lex Luthor has ever been."

"Right."

"Damn right. My point is that she was happy with the Phantom because, yeah, he had Kryptonian powers but he was willing to cater to her every whim. She wants to pretend your normal all the time except in the bedroom where, I can imagine, your powers have all sorts of benefits she never saw coming."

Clark alternated between going beet red and imagining what kind of things he could do for chloe. For some odd reason, the thought of doing that while floating sprang to mind...and other places. Artfully, he bunched up the bed spread over his lap. "That's a little much, Chlo."

"It's true isn't it?"

"I'm not that comfortable talking about sex with you."

"Since when? You've obviously done it and been quite successful at it."

Clark rubbed his stomach. "Yeah, my virtue's so sullied now. It's just that I don't want Dear Abby anymore."

"Why?"

"Because it's different!"

"How?"

"Because now I think the letters would be about you and to you."

"Oh," Chloe replied, trying to remove her hand from his.

He held it firmly in place. "Don't."

"It's okay, Clark. You don't have to humor me."

"Yeah, because before Ollie broke us up that was exactly what I was doing."

"You're kind of not thinking straight. I mean-"

"If you say 'hormonal,' I'll snap something."

"Fine, then you and Lana are having the most ugly divorce in history. I don't know. You can't possibly mean it."

"Why not?"

"Because you didn't for the first nine years!"

"So I'm a little," off her glare, he amended, "Fine, a lot slow, but I know who I want now."

"And that's me?"

"You sound so unsure. I thought I was making my point really clear."

"But then you turn around and call Lana and she is the mother-very much in the Joan Crawford vein maybe-but you just threw that in my face."

"And the fact that we have a kid in common doesn't mean I'm still in love with her."

"You called her!"

"Kon might be dying...okay, sounds more like I'm the one dying."

"Don't say it that way."

"You know what I meant. We're sick and she does have a right to know that much. Kon's half hers and I was always going to try and keep them together as well as I can."

"Every other weekend and Thanksgiving?" Chloe asked wryly.

"Something like that."

"And what if I'm in the middle of it?"

"You're not."

"Clark, it makes me look really, really bad to start, um, dating the guy who's just left the mother of his child."

"You didn't do anything. You're right. I know you are. Lana hates the alien side of me and of Kon. She wants to make it go away no matter what, except when it suits her. If she wants some-"

"Earth quake inspiring sex?"

"Pretty much," he said, looking away from her. "Then she's happy I'm Kryptonian, but when it's me floating uncontrollably or eating nails or carrying our son to term, then she's just disgusted with me. I can't say I blame her."

"Clark, don't."

"I can't be human enough for anybody. I know that now. I finally figured out that it's helpless and Kon helped a lot with that, and you're okay with it. Fuck, you're embracing all of this. It makes me worried for you and your mental health, but it makes me so happy. You make me happy and it doesn't have to do with hormones or being horny or being frustrated with Lana. It has to do with you. You've been with me through this whole mess, through everything, and every time I doubted myself, you supported me. Every time I thought that I couldn't get any weirder only to be proven wrong, you just gave me a hug and told me everything was going to be okay. God, you love both of us so much. You won't stop touching us."

"Um, Clark?"

"Not in the sexual way. I mean, it's clear how much you love Kon and, I hope, me. When Lana turns away or refuses to sleep in the same house, let alone the same bed with me, you're the one holding me. You're the one teasing and touching Kon and kissing me. You're the one dealing with this mess and telling J'onn how it's going to be."

"He's a pushover."

"I'll believe that when I see it," he replied. "But you're fighting for both of us but you're doing it the right way. You keep treating me like a human being even when it's so fucking obvious I'm not, it's not even funny."

"I treat you like the person you are, Clark." She corrected. "Being human is highly over-rated."

"Maybe. It seems pretty great from my side of the fence."

"Clark-"

"It's just you respect me and love me and you'll stay no matter what. How can I love Lana more than that when all she's done for the last four months is treat me like a lab rat and a fool."

Her eyes widened, "So they are ?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell if Lex has touched her or not. I suspect it, but I'm not stalking people and invading privacy. You're right. Lana and I had one shot in college and I blew it by lying, but then we had another chance and she blew it."

"By lying?"

"By not being the kind of person I want to be with. God, she's everything I can't stand-secret labs and invasive surveillance-and I just didn't want to see it."

"What changed?"

"She wanted to poison my son and leave me weak. How can I say yes to that."

"And if you keep inviting ISIS back into your life, it's what you'll get, Clark."

"No, they have the blood work. They know how my biology works here which is something Kara can't possibly know and that J'onn can only guess at. They have the info we need, but it doesn't have to mean that I become their guinea pig for three months. It doesn't mean I live there. It means I work with them and between all of us-Lana's team and Kara's memories and J'onn's research-Kon might just make it."

"You'll both make it."

"He matters more."

"You both matter to me equally," she corrected, reaching over to stroke his arm. "I won't lose either of you, but I don't trust Lana. I haven't since I saw her creepy Room of Lex Luthor. Clark, this is a bad idea."

"And she has the resources and she's Kon's mother no matter how much I wish I could have a do-over. I love my son as he is, but I..."

"What?"

"I wish he was yours too, Chlo."

"Since when?"

"Since Jimmy told me I did." He shook his head. "Olsen is kind of perceptive, really."

She smiled. "He's a great guy, not for me, but Kara's lucky to have him."

Clark smiled sadly. "He can love her the way that Lana can't love me, like you love me."

"I...Clark," she said, pulling at her cuticles. "I didn't say that. I...it's a lot."

He rolled his eyes. "I know. You're standoffish about these things."

"What things?"

"Admitting how you feel sometimes. You don't have to say it back. Hell, after the last nine years, I know you probably don't believe me, but I know you love me and I love you and that's enough for right now."

"I do care. I just...I've only said those words out loud to my dad, Lois, and my mom. If it's out there...it's so raw."

"And we've had a really shitty day and we're both completely drained and emotional."

"So maybe you don't mean it."

"I do. I definitely do. I love you as much as I love my mother or Kara. I'd do anything to protect any of the three of you. The only person I love more is Kon. So that's where I stand. Lana's here, but it's because Kon is something we have to share together for his sake and, honestly, if I didn't need some kind of care, I don't know if I'd let her even this much back into my life."

"Are you sure you're Clark Kent?"

"Yes, I am. It's just, she wanted to take my powers away."

"You've always wanted to be normal," Chloe countered.

"Blue K doesn't make me normal; it makes me sick. She went back here deliberately for the Blue K. She's been thinking about making me as human as possible a long time before Kon was even conceived. I...if everything hadn't gone so badly during that summer, I might feel differently. If I could bear to be without hearing Kon for more than a few minutes at a time, I might feel better. But I don't. I don't want that at all, Chlo."

"Then why is she here? I hate to have to give you a lesson that I thought you knew, but donating an egg doesn't make her a mother. Martha's your mom more than Lara was, as much as you love her too. I...Lana hasn't earned the right to be Kon's mom."

Clark rubbed his belly with his free hand. "You think someone else has?"

"I don't assume anything. I just...this is a bad idea."

"And I have a dead end. Kara and J'onn don't have the answers and if I don't do everything I know how to keep Kon alive, I'd regret. If he..." Clark broke off again and kept himself from answering until his voice wouldn't waver. "If anything happened to him and I could have stopped it, I'd never forgive myself. Chlo, I just need to do this and I need you to understand that,please ."

She shook her head. "I can't understand it and I don't think Kara's going to get it either."

Clark sighed, "Kara flew off after the Manhunter showed. She really hates J'onn. She hates Lana more. It'll probably go better if she's not here."

"Where do you think it's going to go?"

"I just...I think maybe I should go back to ISIS. Not overnight. I won't do that, no matter how sick I get. I know that the basement of a lab is the worst place I could end up."

"A four year old off the street could tell you that."

"But I need to decide what to do with Lana."

Chloe narrowed her eyes and pulled her hand away. "You're going to talk to her alone, aren't you? Shuffle me out the door."

"No, you can stay. I want you to stay. I'm sick of boundaries and what makes her upset. This whole thing fell apart."

"Clark-"

"It did and I tried to keep it together. I did the best I could and I'm not going to let her guilt me into giving up the people who matter to me, not when she left everything first. So stay. You're in this even more than Kara and mom."

"I...really I shouldn't. I don't want to be the reason someone pulls a Tom Brady."

"You're not. You didn't break up anything."

"She didn't?" Lana asked coldly, leaning against the bedroom doorway.

It took some effort for Clark to push himself up into a sitting position. He wasn't quite that large yet, but it was still cumbersome and the whole being shot thing really wiped a guy out. He let the blanket fall down to his hips. He obviously had nothing to hide from. She'd helped make all of this possible after all. "Hello, Lana."

Lana crossed the room and came to stand in front of Chloe. "Does she have to be here?"

"She does," he replied, reaching out for her hand. "I want her here."

Lana's face pinched up and she looked anything but beautiful then. "I was on the farm not ten hours ago. I left to go help my son and now I find out that you're sick and recovering from a gunshot wound in Oliver's apartment and that you and Chloe are what? Are you cheating on me?"

Clark bit back the immediate instinct to repeat the question back to her. "No, Lana. How could I sleep with anyone the way that I am?"

Of course, he had thought about it. He just wasn't sure how the physics of it all worked or if there'd have to be floating involved.

But that was presuming again.

Chloe probably...well if he could convince her this was real...no one would want to make love to him like this.

"I don't know, but I've walked into something I don't understand. I thought that we were past our arguments."

"We are, but not the way you think," he said. "I don't want you on the farm anymore. It shouldn't be hard to move. You spend more nights at Aunt Nell's than you do with me anyway."

"How is Aunt Nell?" Chloe asked pointedly.

"She's fine," Lana replied. "How's my boyfriend?"

"Less than fine," Clark replied, trying to defuse the tension between the two girls. "J'onn says I'll keep losing my powers and that there's a chance that as strong as Kon is, he'll be able to rupture something by the time my invulnerability gives out. He wants me on bed rest and he's trying to figure out whatever information he can about human-Kryptonian pregnancies."

"But he doesn't know."

"No."

"So you need me and the team you've complained about for five months solid, almost."

"I don't know what I need, but I know you have my records, that there's never been anything like what's happening to me before. There's never been a male human-Kryptonian pregnancy. Even if J'onn found something, it might not apply."

"Now I'm supposed to come at your beck and call while you're living with her?"

"She's not going to move onto the farm. Honestly, mom's going to have to come back now and we'll have to figure out a way to make Kara comfortable on the sofa. It's not about Chloe, at least not like that."

"Then why am I getting kicked out?"

Chloe snorted. "Did you honestly just ask that? You were going to make Clark wear something that poisons him and the baby, and then there's the part where you and your ex-husband are probably closer than you should be, and that's putting it nicely."

"Lex and I aren't like that."

"There've been rumors running rampant," she pointed out. "Pictures of the two of you at every fund raiser in the city."

"And he keeps seeking me out. He had one good look at Clark and he won't stop asking pointed questions. I'm defusing things as best as I can."

Clark strained his ears to the best of his abilities and she still seemed to be telling the truth. Of course, Lionel and Lex no longer offered sure tells like that anymore either. "Maybe. God, I hope that's true."

"It is true."

"And you've lied too many times for me to believe anything anymore no matter how much I want to. I just...I can't do this, but I can't cut you out completely. You've never done anything to hurt Kon and I have nowhere else to go."

"You sound so resigned, Clark. As if I'm the last person you ever wanted to see."

"It's not like that, exactly."

Chloe shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "At least for him, it works that way. Kara, Martha and I are not happy."

"Kon's not yours."

"You don't get ownership over him," Chloe reminded her.

"I know but you're not the mother."

"But she's my best friend and part of the family and other things," he said, blushing, hoping that he wasn't forcing Chloe to pull the emotional rip cord as she'd done so many times before.

Chloe smiled and squeezed his hand tighter. "You're not up to the job Lana."

"You'll raise my child and I'll be allowed to provide some medical care? Is that how it's going to work?"

"If I had my way you wouldn't-"

"No. I want you to be in Kon's life but I don't want you in mine, anymore," Clark replied. "I need someone who'll treat me like the human being I am."

"But you're no...I mean, I respect you."

He shook his head, "No, you don't. I'm asking you here and asking for your help because I'm desperate and because our son is sick. It's not about power or leverage over each other. It's not about games. God, that's not how love or family works on Kent Farm, not with my parents, not ever. I want you to do this because you want to, because Kon means that much to you."

"He does."

"Then help me, please."

"What do you need from me? Do I have to work with her?"

"We're all in this together," he replied. "But, frankly, it's probably better for the safety of nearby glassware if you two aren't together. I can't deal with the fighting anymore."

"Then what am I even doing here with Oliver Queen of all people. How does he know about you?" She demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"Lois has a big mouth," Chloe insisted.

"And you thought it was such a great idea to tell her."

"Well, you told half of the Metropolis medical community," Chloe pointed out. "Ollie's not a threat. Lois wouldn't let him be."

"You keep making mistakes, Clark. Lex, now Ollie. If you just stayed on the farm more or more at the-"

"Next word better not be lab," Chloe groused.

"I'm not living or spending overnights in ISIS."

"But you will go back for another round of tests, won't you. Clark, you were shot. You say you're fine and you probably gave Connor a once over with your eyes and ears, but he needs doctors. Russell and Schwartz need to look over him. Are you going to come with me."

"For a few hours, yes."

"Clark-" Chloe started.

He shook his head. "Just for a little while, Chlo."

"Then I'm coming."

"No, if you come, they'll be fighting and Kon will get upset and I don't want to show off for them. I don't want them to start prodding into that power. It crosses the line into testing him and it scares me to be that out of control. Give me a few hours, Chlo. You and J'onn can start trying to figure out where and how to track down information about pregnancies on Earth. Maybe Chief Joseph can help you."

"Clark, I really don't think-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion and Clark doesn't want it," Lana replied curtly.

"I do," he defended. "It's just that I know Kon needs a check-up. Please, trust me."

Chloe sighed and patted his hand. "It's not you whom I don't trust."

"I've never hurt him."

"Only with what you've said and what you've conned him into," she replied coolly.

"I bet you're thrilled with all of this. Does it bother you that you had to wait for Clark to change his mind, that you're still second best?"

"It bothers me that your a cold-hearted-"

The last pane in the large stained glass window shattered. And Clark looked away from Lana's fearful gape. "Please just stop. Between the Manhunter and Kara and both of you and all the yelling. This is draining and I can't keep him from doing it. Please, Chlo, just let me leave and I'll be back in a few hours."

"Fine, but if anything happens to him, Lana..."

"It won't," the other girl replied. "Clark, are you coming?"

He nodded and struggled to his feet. "Yes, Lana, I'll follow you out."

There was a car from ISIS waiting downstairs and Clark wasn't all that surprised to see it. He sometimes got the feeling that Lana had much more money than she'd admitted to having. He sighed. It didn't even matter anymore. All her lies were blurring together so much. He just wanted it all over with, to have Kon born and healthy, to be able to stop going there.

He slid down into the seat and, to his surprise, Lana sat down close next to him and took his hand.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't."

She quirked her head up at him and frowned. "Now you don't want me to? After all the complaints you've had."

"It's too late for that Lana," he admitted as the car started off.

She shook her head and he could feel her hand slide to his wrist. "It doesn't have to be."

Clark leaned his head against the window and looked out into the rainy Metropolis night. "No, it very much is."

"Then I'm sorry," she said and he felt something cold against his wrist.

Wait.

He didn't get cold.

Then he felt it, that surge of energy followed by nothing. The world went silent and eerily still. Kon went silent.

Shocked, Clark looked down at his arm and pulled it away from Lana. There was a large bracelet, made of heavy lead and adorned with a surprisingly large chunk of Blue K.

"What the Hell?"

"It's for your own good-both yours and Connor's."

"Take it off, Lana," he said, yanking at the metal cursing when it wouldn't budge.

"No," she replied. "I can't trust you with your powers. You ran off to play hero for those vigilantes and you almost got my son killed. You don't deserve to keep your powers."

"If I don't keep them as long as possible, then Kon will kill me."

"So says the Manhunter. Who knows if he's not just some mouth piece for Jor-El. Even your own cousin doesn't trust him."

"Then trust me. I can't hear him, Lana. I need to. Please, it's like he's hurt or something. I just can't."

"Other people don't listen for their children," she replied as the car picked up speed around a corner.

"And no one else can hear what I can," Clark countered. "I need him. Take it off now!"

"No,"

"Goddamn it, Lana!" he shouted, tearing frantically at the offending piece of metal. "Take it the fuck off now!" The window behind him cracked and Lana flinched.

"I can't do that," she replied.

He glared into her eyes, "Why the Hell not and ow!" He yelled, rubbing at his thigh.

Lana pulled back the syringe she stuck in him. "It's a sedative mixed with the tiniest traces of Blue Kryptonite. It'll help you rest until we get to ISIS."

"No, please, I just...take it...off," he said, his tongue growing heavier with each word.

"Get some sleep, Clark," she replied briskly, slipping the empty needle into her purse.

It was the last thing he remembered before he passed out.


	24. Chapter 24

24

When Clark finally woke up, his head ached. He'd never had a hangover in his entire life. Yeah, he'd been technically mortal for a summer, but he'd never drunken alcohol aside from that one time he'd visited Metropolis University. But he felt the fuzzy effects of drugs floating through his system, the odd dryness in his throat, the dull ache of his head. Woozy still, Clark sat up and cursed when he almost vomited.

He had no idea what Lana had given him beside Blue K, but he couldn't barely sit up. Standing was a pipe dream and, despite his commanding size and strength even with merely human abilities, he wasn't going to be able to fight his way out of the lab.

He was in ISIS, the dark cinder block walls and the slightly flickering halogens were enough proof for him. Even if they weren't a big clue, the slightly purple tint to the walls was typical of Lana's preferred color scheme. Clark tried sitting up further, more than just leaning his head against the headboard of the bed, but he felt another wave of dizziness and spots danced in front of his eyes. Instinctively, he reached down and rubbed the swell of his stomach. Even with the Blue K yielding an eerie gleam on his arm, Clark couldn't fight the urge to squint at his stomach or to perk up his ears.

All he could see was his filthy t-shirt.

All he could hear was the air conditioning filtering through the room.

The silence was so oppressive.

So final.

But Kon was still there, still healthy. Clark knew that much because they were here in the apparent paternity suite of ISIS.

"It's okay, buddy," he soothed, although the frantic pitch of his voice probably wasn't calming Kon down at all. It wasn't assuaging his fears either. "Shh, we'll get to leave soon. If Aunt Kara doesn't come for us then Grandma will when she gets back from D.C. and then she's going to kick all kinds of butt."

His stomach was completely still and there were no kicks against his palm.

God, he wished he could just peak once.

He loathed being this isolated from his son.

"I wish I could hear you."

"Now you know how I feel," Lana replied coolly, stepping into the lab. Her hair was up again in that severe style she favored and the expression on her face was as cold and calculating as anything he'd ever seen on Zod or Brainiac's faces.

"Where is he, Lana?"

She frowned. "Where's who?"

"Lex. I know he must be here. How could he resist the opportunity to have a Kryptonian and his half-Kryptonian child ready for dissecting?"

Lana shook her head. "You never really trusted me, did you?"

"Actually, I did. That's how I got here and I was clearly insane to let it get this far. I can't even sit up all the way, I'm so drugged, and you want to lecture me about trust."

"Now's as good a time as any," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "You trust Chloe more than you have ever trusted me."

"I didn't. I told you about hiding Kara's crystal."

"And only Chloe knew about Dax-Ur's SOS and where to find it. She knows a lot more about the Fortress than I do, and you've told her more about your condition than you have me."

"Kon's not a condition."

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant that she knew you were sick and you never thought about telling me!

"I did think about telling you," Clark confessed. "I thought about it every day. It was my last thought before I fell asleep and then again when I woke back up. I agonized over it every time something glitched, but I was scared, Lana."

"And we're a couple. You're supposed to find comfort in me."

"I couldn't tell my mom or Kara either."

"But not for the same reasons," she replied, leaning against the doorway. "You didn't want to worry them, but you were afraid of my reaction."

"I was afraid that I'd be forced into a lab again and I was right. I never wanted the doctors to know how weak I actually am. Besides," he added, shaking his head. "we haven't been a real couple in so long. I'm not even sure if we were even one when you came back from Shanghai."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you came back and told me that you got the 10 million dollars in the settlement when you stole it. We started everything out on a lie."

"It goes both ways."

"I told you who Kara was and you knew about my powers."

"It's not good enough, Clark. I started out talking about wanting to grow old together and until you brought it up with Connor the other day in the kitchen, I didn't know that both the Manhunter and Kara told you that you'd live forever."

"Well not now," he replied, his voice wavering. "If you don't take this off, I won't be anything close to immortal."

"You've been fine for the first three hours. Connor doesn't have his strength either. He can't hurt you."

"But I could lose him and miscarriage. Lana, you have to stop this. I can't be without my powers. I can't be separated from him like this."

"Like what?" she replied, and, god, she was so collected. Nary a hair moved out of place as she eyed him.

"You know what I mean. I need to hear him. I told you how much I need it, how important this connection is."

"There's nothing wrong with having it severed, Clark. Other parents can't do what you can. I can't."

Clark swallowed. It finally struck him, one of her driving reasons for using the Blue K at all. It wasn't about controlling him or even completely about her desperate bid to make Kon normal. Lana was jealous of the relationship he had with their child. She didn't want to go through the pain of carrying or even to touch him, but she did want to be able to hear what he heard. "You're jealous."

"I don't deny that. You have everything with Conner-"

"It's Kon."

"It will be Connor on the birth certificate," she gritted out. "You have everything with him. You're carrying him."

"I sure as Hell didn't ask for that," he replied, clutching tighter at Kon. "I wouldn't take it back and I wouldn't trade him for everything, but it wasn't some conspiracy. I didn't know this would happen."

"I never said you could have, but you can't deny that you are doing everything that I should be doing. All the mother things are yours."

"I'm not actually a girl," Clark said, trying to cross his arms over his chest out of spite and growling when he realized that it was only an imposing gesture when a distended belly wasn't involved. "I'm carrying him. I can't change that either. But it's also killing me. If it were you, Kon would have ruptured something by now and we both know it."

"But it's something you have that I don't."

"I gave you the chance to do everything else."

"No, you gave it to Chloe."

How had he ever been in love with someone so vindictive? How had he never noticed how ragingly jealous and insecure Lana was? "No," he corrected patiently. "I kept trying to get you involved with our son-he's not just yours, by the way-and, honestly Lana, if you won't even touch him then you're not being a mother to him at all."

"I tried touching him. It was just too hard."

"It's not for anyone else. Even Jimmy and Lois have reached out for him and you've only done it once with me and only long enough to get me to give him the name you wanted."

Lana paled. "It's not that. You don't understand. It's too-"

"Disgusting. That's the word you want. Don't even try and deny it."

"Clark, I-"

"No, it's what you've been thinking since I told you and especially since I started showing. I'm not a complete hypocrite. I think what's happening to me is beyond scary and disturbing. I love Kon, but I know I'm just not normal anymore or even able to pass for it."

"No, you're not."

"But you're the only member of this family who can't see past it. You rejected us first."

"I love Connor."

"You don't love me," he replied, bitterly. "I don't know if you ever did, but you haven't loved me at least since you tried to kill me."

"And we talked about that a year ago. Your powers made me crazy."

"Funny," he replied, his voice barely a whisper. "They don't make Kara or me crazy at all. But you definitely haven't seen me as a person since I told you about Kon. I was joking when I said it, but it's true, isn't it? I've become your alien surrogate. I'm the way for Lana to get what she thinks she wants."

"Don't be so melodramatic."

"It's all about Kon-El, though. It's all about having him to replace what you lost, so you can pretend and play house like nothing ever happened to your family."

" Connor isn't replacing anyone, but he's my son and I'm not going to let you put his life in danger."

"He belongs to both of us."

She narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you and Chloe and Kara and maybe even Jimmy and Lois are all planning this great family life for him and I'm only invited to pay the bills or to join in on the occasional Thanksgiving Dinner. You were going to ex me out."

"I wasn't. A lot of parents are divorced. Fuck Lana, we aren't even married."

"And you were still kicking me out of his life."

"And you threatened to strap a radioactive rock to us both and then did it."

"The rock isn't hurting you."

"It made us both weak. It's making me nauseated. That's sick."

"But this isn't about hurting you."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's about control, about making sure you take care of yourself and Connor first over what Kara or the Green Arrow or Chloe want. It's about keeping you safe. I thought that if I got you down here, you'd see reason."

"I can't see anything through all the spots in my vision. Lana, please, I don't want to stay here. I won't and you know that Kara and Chloe are going to come looking for me. This plan can't last."

"It can if you'd just listen to reason and agree to it!"

"No, I want to go home."

"You're not leaving."

Clark shook his head. "Did you ever once care about what I wanted? Forget what I need to stay healthy and sunlight's number one on the list. Do you even care about how I feel at all."

"I do but you're wrong, Clark."

"No, I'm not," he replied, forcing himself to his feet and wobbling all the time he did it. "I'm leaving."

"You won't get very far," she replied, her voice as hard as any crystal in the Fortress.

"Not the way I am now and not with the crap you stuck in my veins," He groused. "But I don't have to do it alone. Let me go, Lana."

"Not while you have my son."

"Fine," he replied, his voice echoing out through the room. Arching his neck back, he yelled as loud as he dared, "Kara! Please, I'm in ISIS!"

He counted.

It took 3 Mississippis for her and the Manhunter to cross through the wall.

Clark put his hand on the night stand and struggled not to collapse. "Like I said, Lana," he started, wincing a little when Kon kicked. "I am leaving here and you can't stop it."


	25. Chapter 25

25

Kara was at his side immediately, ducking under his arm to help keep him upright. "Kal, you're swaying."

"And you're struggling to hold me up," he pointed out. "I'm wearing Blue K."

"She put that on my baby cousins?" Kara demanded, her eyes flashing red and Lana at least at the good sense to step back a few feet from the both of them. "What the Hell were you thinking?"

"That it was what Connor needed."

"Kal, yeesh, don't take this the wrong way, but you are heavy," Kara replied, readjusting his right arm on her shoulder. "J'onn can you help with this?"

"Gladly," the Manhunter replied, stepping across the room and glaring pointedly at Lana. It was easy for him to grab the bracelet in both hands and snap it off of his wrist. Both he and Kara felt a hundred times better when J'onn fried the blue crystal into ash with his own special vision.

"Kal-El?" Kara prodded gently. "Can you stand?"

He nodded and pushed away easily from her. "The nausea is gone. I guess whatever sedatives were in my system only work if I don't have my abilities."

"Good, then you can speed back to Oliver's apartment, can't you?"

"I...I don't know," he replied, glancing nervously at J'onn. "I know what you told me about my illness and not using my powers, but would it be okay this one time?"

"I'd advise it myself, Kal-El," J'onn said and now he was looming over Lana, had her pushed into a corner of the room. Kara was right beside him. It was terrifying even for him to see both their eyes gleam a preternatural crimson.

"What are you going to do? You're not going to-"

His cousin turned to glare at him. "As much as I would love to, I'd never do that. It's not in the spirit of our House, at least not what your mother would have wanted for either of us. We're not going to harm Lana."

"I...thank you."

"But we are not leaving the lab or the records intact any longer," J'onn intoned. "Kal-El, go home and wait for all of us. We'll be there shortly."

"I think maybe I should-"

"Go!" Kara shouted. "Aunt Martha's waiting."

"Mom?"

She nodded. "That's why I wasn't there. I went to London to get her."

"She's waiting for us?" Clark asked again as if he didn't believe it. The last day, starting with half a dozen doctors staring at his (really Kon's) telekinesis display like it was the most fascinating site ever and ending with waking up weakened in ISIS, had been horrible and terrifying and all he wanted was his mother. He wanted to curl up with her like when he'd been three and she'd taught him that there was no closet monster.

But he didn't really want to leave Kara alone at ISIS.

If there was more Blue K...

"Kal, she's there. Why are you waiting?"

"J'onn?"

"Yes, Kal-El?"

"You won't let the doctors or Lana touch her, will you."

"Never."

"Thanks," he replied, casting one last glance at Lana before speeding to Oliver's apartment.

Clark burst through the door to the apartment with little effort. It was so odd to think that he'd be on bed rest after all of this. He didn't feel different. His invulnerability was back and he was fast as he'd ever been. How could the glitches lead to where J'onn had predicted? How could things possibly get that dangerous?

It felt like an episode of "this is your life" when he entered into Ollie's main room. Oliver was there, of course. He and Chloe were huddled in a corner talking very tersely with each other. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Clark couldn't help but smile with the way Chloe waved her arms, with the way she dogged a man as large as Oliver without a second thought. That was his Chlo.

He was not expecting everyone else. Pacing back and forth in front of one of the large windows was Lois and, even from where he stood, he noticed how furiously she was chewing gum. He remembered the first day he'd met her-apparently Lois was nervous enough to be jonesing for a cigarette and was making do. Jimmy Olsen was sitting on Oliver's sofa (the one large enough for eight people or a Bros' meeting) trying to make awkward small talk with Lionel Luthor. Clark shivered at the sight. Lionel was brainwashed in his own way by the AI but, at the same time, he was also working closely with the Manhunter. He was clearly close with his mother, if the way his hands were wrapped around her were any clue.

Clark took in a sharp breath and the tableau he stumbled in on powered back to life.

His mother was the first to react. It seemed like she was the one moving in superspeed when she crossed the floor to wrap her arms around him. "Oh thank god."

"Mom," he replied, his voice thick with emotion and he was blaming that one on the hormones and possibly on being kidnapped. If he was allowed to be a little weepy, surely it could be the day where the mother of his child poisoned him and threatened to keep him immobilized like some kind of exotic pet.

"Shh, baby, it's okay," she replied, stroking his hair with one hand and desperately trying to draw him as close to her as she could. Kon made that very complicated, but they managed. Chloe soon joined him and, to his surprise and embarrassment, Lois's arms were soon wrapped around him too. He was surrounded by women, at least Kon made sure he wasn't as outnumbered as he could be.

"Clark, Jesus, you scared me. After the first hour and I couldn't get you on your cell phone and why did you listen to Lana again, you big dumb traveler!" Chloe shouted, tightening her grip around him to a level of intensity that wouldn't have done a human any good at all.

"Chloe! I like breathing."

Lois and Chloe both let go and she settled for glowering at him. "You jerk, I know you can breathe. God, Clark, how could you have gone off with her."

"I..." he took a deep breath and willed his voice not to break. "I thought she loved Kon enough to take care of him."

"Clearly, that wasn't the case, Smallville. Kara's bringing her back her right because I want to have a shot at kicking her passive aggressive ass!"

"Lois," his mom chided, picking her head up from his chest. "Why don't you and Oliver see if there's anything in the kitchen for Clark. I'm sure he's hungry."

Clark swallowed. Actually, he was pretty hungry now that she mentioned it. "That'd be good. Could you guys?"

"Of course, Smallville, no prob. Hey Ollie? You coming?" Lois said, marching to the kitchen.

"Sure," Oliver replied, his eyes still stuck on Clark's midsection.

He couldn't blame him. It was a lot to get used to, especially since Ollie had never seen him standing and poking out in all his 3D glory.

"Oh, hey Ollie?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh," Clark started, his cheeks flaring red, "Do you have any caviar?"

"Caviar, huh? I have Beluga and it's several hundred dollars an ounce, and now it's going to be filling the cravings of a pregnant alien," Oliver's wide smirk eased the harsh undertones of his words.

"It's traveler, he of the leather fetish," Chloe replied tightly. "And bring all you have. My nephew deserves the best."

"You only had to ask guys, seriously. If you want literal buckets of this stuff, I can have it at the farm by sunset."

"Uh, nah, that's cool. Just some now would be great," Clark said awkwardly. He didn't want to take advantage of his friends' (and in Lionel's case, tolerated maybe-enemy's) money like that.

"It's a deal," he said, slipping through the door.

Chloe and his mom, on the other hand, were busy guiding him to the sofa. They were both pushing on his shoulders until he took their less-than-subtle hint and plopped down on the cushions. "Guys, I'm okay. Just tired and really stressed but nothing too bad happened. I was sedated and there was Blue K, but I don't think a few hours are going to do anything."

Lionel leaned forward, "Does she still have access to it?"

"No, Kara ruined the piece she made the bracelet with but I don't know if that was it. I don't know where she got the piece in the first place. I thought it might be from when she killed Bizarro, but there wasn't that much left. I think she's found another source."

"We shall be addressing that shortly," Lionel replied.

Just as he finished, the elevator doors open again to reveal J'onn, Kara and Lana. Lana was standing between them and one of J'onn's strong hands was clamped on her forearm in warning. "We're home."

Chloe grinned a little at J'onn. "Anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words."

"Shut your mouth," he replied, winking at her.

As the three of them stepped into the apartment and it was Kara who took up the grip on Lana that J'onn relinquished. "Kal, are you sure I can't maim her a lot."

Clark show his head. "No, Kara. I...what took you so long?"

"We were disposing of the evidence. We left the building intact and her upstairs office, but we destroyed the lab she'd reserved for you and Kon-El. We also took care of the staff."

Clark's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean 'took care of?'"

"Chloe, can you come here a minute?" Kara asked, her hand digging hard enough into Lana's bicep to bruise it.

"Sure," she replied, stepping forward until she was face to face with his cousin. "What do you need?"

Kara held up four fingers on her left hand, "How many?"

"Is this a trick question?"

"How many, just go with it."

"Four."

"Good," she replied and then Clark gasped at what she did next. Leaning forward, she grabbed Chloe and kissed her.

"Oh this is like every fantasy I ever had come to life," Jimmy muttered next to him before realizing what he'd said. "I didn't mean that, CK. I really love my arms."

"It's okay," Clark said. "Okay, it's not, but I don't have the energy to rip them off right now and I am beyond confused."

"Me too, Smallville. Supergirl, what the Hell are you doing to my cousin?" Lois shouted, almost dropping the tray of crackers she was carrying.

"I'm with Jimmy. This is the most useful thing I've ever seen Watchtower do," Ollie quipped setting the caviar and Coca-cola on the table in front of him.

Chloe pulled back and blinked at Kara, "What?"

Kara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Follow me here, guys. Chloe, how many fingers was I holding up?"

"I...what the Hell are you talking about?"

"Chloe, sweetheart," his mother prodded, "Kara just held up four fingers for you. You don't remember that?"

"She won't be able to, Martha," Lionel replied. "Kara's erased that part of her short term memory."

Clark's eyes widened. "I know I don't have that one. I didn't even know that that was a possibility."

Jimmy whistled. "So how many powers are you going to get? You've lapped like half the X-men by now."

"That's the last of it," J'onn replied. "Except for a few adjustments in your vision, the two of you aren't going to develop any other abilities. The memory erasing is a difficult power to master. It's also one that I'd rather you didn't use."

His mom nodded, "Like how you limit your telepathy."

"Exactly, I normally champion free will, but, in some instances, the risks are too great."

"Okay, is anyone totally lost here?" Lois demanded.

"I didn't even know I could do it until a few months ago. Jimmy, well, he kept forgetting simple things like where he put his keys or where his latest roll of film was and then it sometimes would be like a blackout."

Jimmy blushed. "It freaked me out at first because I thought that I was going nuts, you know?"

"But it turned out Kara was causing it?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, all the memory stuff only happened after we were, um-"

"Making out hot and heavy," Lois supplied.

"Thanks for cutting to the chase," Oliver remarked. Then, shaking his head, he added, "I'm really glad I never thought about dating Kara. I like my memory intact."

"The bruising can be a pain too," Jimmy remarked before clamping his mouth shut comically.

"Children, could we try and stay on topic?" Lionel said. "So I take it that you did this with all of the staff at ISIS?"

It was Lana who answered. Gazing at Kara with the same scorn she'd reserved for the members of Van McNulty's hit list, she replied, "Your cousin did do that. All of my staff can't remember a thing, and all your medical records are gone. I was kind enough to do as you asked, to keep everything locked in the basement and they've ruined all of it. That was five months of work, Clark."

"For what?" Ollie asked coolly.

"Prenatal care. I don't appreciate any of this. None of you are involved here. This is between me, Clark, and Connor."

"It's between all of us, you Rao-Dracu bitch," Kara spat, reaching back her left arm to slap her.

Chloe reached out to stop her. "Kara, don't."

"Why not? I'd like to see Lana pick up her jaw in Alaska."

"Because it's not something a Kent would do," his mother reminded her sternly.

"And," Chloe replied, smacking Lana across the face with enough force to leave a red, welling hand print on her right cheek. "I've been waiting to do that since she said she wanted Kon to be more human." She shook her head and slapped Lana once more. "That was for poisoning my nephew and my best friend."

Clark bit his lip and tried to get her attention. He wasn't sure if she meant the best friend part as "and only my best friend" or if she was still open to a "something more."

Lana rubbed at her face with her free hand. "I never really expected anything else from you."

"Then expect worse from me, Lana," his mother replied. Despite the anger in her voice, she stayed sitting next to him on the sofa, one arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other crossed protectively over his middle. "We had a conversation about this family and about the conditions placed on it before. What you've done? It's unforgivable and now we have to figure out what to do with you."

"What to do with me?"

"How much does Lex know?" His mother said, her tone completely professional and detached. This was Senator Martha Clark they were dealing with.

"Lex doesn't know anything about Clark or Connor. I haven't told him."

"J'onn?" His mom prodded.

"She's telling the truth, Martha. Lana hasn't told Lex about the baby. In fact, she's put up quite a front lying to him and trying to convince him of her own pregnancy."

"And when did she have an opportunity for that?"

J'onn looked at him and frowned, "Kal-El, I do not think that you want me to share the rest of this."

It was enough of a hint for Kara to tighten her grip. "You whore."

Clark felt the now familiar pain in his side and he started rubbing at it, trying to get Kon to settle back to sleep. "Kara please."

"I told you, Kal. I told you and begged you and she was fucking him the entire time."

"Kara stop!" he shouted, wincing as the jar of caviar in front of him exploded, sending a shower of the slimy concoction spilling onto Jimmy's shirt.

"Oh man," Jimmy groused.

"Perhaps Kara, Lois, Oliver, and I can all help you clean that in the kitchen," J'onn replied, gripping his cousin's arm and dragging her to the kitchen. Jimmy and Oliver took that cue and helped to herd Lois after her.

Damn, he knew too many stubborn females.

Like his mom and Chloe who were still glaring at Lana.

"Lana," Lionel replied. "Mr. Queen has some of the best security in the city and a plethora of cameras. Either J'onn and Kara could catch you in an instant if you so much as move. It is not the time for you to leave now."

"I wasn't going to."

"You've been sleeping with Lex, haven't you? That's what J'onn saw," Clark said.

Lana looked between him and Chloe and her eyes narrowed. "I'm not the only one to turn to someone else."

"I'm not sleeping with anyone else, damn it," he said. "I've never cheated on you in all the years we've dated on and off, never once, and you slept with Lex repeatedly while sharing my bed. Fuck, we weren't even sharing it. You were making me at six months pregnant sleep on the couch while you took my room."

"You float."

"It's a terrible thing to do," Chloe replied.

"You what?" His mom asked and she took a half a step right there towards Lana before settling back on the sofa. "You made Clark sleep on the couch as fragile as he is."

Clark frowned. "I'm not fragile. I'm perfectly healthy. Okay, I'm not, but I'm not some wilting flower from Gone with the Windeither."

"We know, son-"

" Don't call me that," Clark warned.

Lionel hesitated for an instant and then nodded, "My mistake, but you never should have been exiled in your condition."

"It was selfish was what it was," Chloe replied, staring Lana down. "But you've always been selfish, haven't you?"

"I'm still confused," his mother said, looking up at him. "Baby, how could you just let that happen? How could you be comfortable with that?"

"I wasn't, but it made her happy and I didn't really need the mattress and I don't know anymore, mom," he replied, his voice hushed. "I just don't know anymore." He sighed and leaned lower, taking comfort from his mother's strong arms. Looking back at Lana, he asked a question he already knew the answer to, "How long?"

"What?"

"When did you start sleeping with him?"

"The day you got irrational about the nursery. You kept refusing everything I was giving you. I was frustrated and I just needed someone to talk to. I was at the mansion before I even had time to think about it. One thing led to another in his office and that's how it all happened."

"Not before?"

"No."

"What have you told him about me and Kon? Does he know we're not human?"

" Connor's half human," Lana replied stiffly.

"And he's half of someone much better than you," Chloe corrected. "What does Lex know?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "He was more than happy to drop hints the first time I saw him in Metropolis after he'd bumped into you, Clark. He was fishing and I honestly don't know how much he knew or didn't know. I've never let him touch my 'stomach' when we have sex," and damn it if he didn't flinch at the way she said it. "And I've never stripped in front of him. As far as he's been told, I'm the pregnant one."

"Yeah, like I'll believe that," Chloe snapped.

"I can't fool J'onn," Lana replied. "I would never have told him what Connor really is."

"Who," Chloe said.

"Who, then. I know what he's done with Scion and I hadn't wanted to expose Connor to that or you."

"If you know what he's capable of then why do you keep going to him. Why are you making love to him and not me and it's more than just the obvious. I know what I look like right now, but it would have only lasted for four months. Why do you seek out a man you hate? Why aren't I good enough?"

"Clark, sweetheart-"

"No," he said, struggling to his feet. Damn it, he wasn't going to do this still seated. "I'm never enough for you and I don't understand why. As honest as I've been, it never satisfies you. You slept with that monster."

"I thought he was you!"

"Bullshit! You knew it couldn't have been me the minute he suggested sleeping with you. You had to have known when he stopped going out in the sunlight and doing chores and forgetting to feed Shelby. You certainly had to know it wasn't me when I suggested abandoning the farm I quit school to run to fly off to Paris. You knew , Lana."

She squared her chin and that same crocodillian look of cool indifference was in her eyes. "Fine, I did know, but he was so easy to be with. He cared about me."

" I cared about you!" Clark insisted while at the same time reaching out to squeeze Chloe's hand. "I did. I tried so hard all this year to be the right guy for you and, instead, you prefer murderers. What kind of person are you?"

"Lex and the Phantom can give me what you won't," she defended.

"And what's that exactly? Because you won't get compassion from them or caring or anything real."

"The Phantom loved me."

"And you murdered him," Clark spit out. "And then you almost killed Lex and now you're sleeping with him. You say you can't stand him but then you try and remake our lives as completely Luthorian. You try and make Kon into someone he's not. You give me nursery's of designer clowns and too much purple. I don't get it."

"I can't explain about me and Lex because I don't get it. I hate him. I loathe him for everything he did to my body, but, at the same time, he cares about me like you won't."

"Clark never violated you," Chloe replied coolly.

"And Lex never had a second girlfriend on the side."

"Chlo and I weren't like that."

"But you always put anyone first but me. It was always you rushing off to The Planet to see Chloe and you're always trying to save the world, off capturing meteor freaks."

Chloe flinched and Clark's grip on her hand tightened. "Don't say it like that."

"Why? I'm always fourth or fifth place with you and I am sick of it."

"No, not that, about meteor-infected people. It's as offensive as alien and just don't."

"Fine."

"And you still, as much as you are obsessed with him and drawn to him, you still haven't told Lex about my grandson?" His mom inquired.

"No, I didn't want to endanger Clark or Connor. I really didn't. Everything I've done, everything that happened in ISIS was about trying to keep them healthy. I brought them the best of everything."

"You made them into lab specimens, Lana," Lionel replied. "You subjected them to Kryptonite intentionally. It wasn't for them then."

"And it might keep Connor from killing Clark."

He gulped, "I'm not going to die and it wasn't even about that. It wasn't altruistic. None of this fucking mess has been anything but you being selfish. You wanted to control me so you stripped my powers. You wanted to try and make Connor more human so you stripped his abilities too. More than that, you didn't want me to be able to hear him if you couldn't. That jealousy is why you took everything."

"She what?" his mother asked.

"Oh please tell me that part's true because I think a three is a nice, round number for slapping."

"Chlo, calm down. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm the one carrying Kon," he said, letting his other hand cup his stomach. "But the pregnancy has managed to still be all about you, Lana. It's your doctors and your nursery and me trying to console you when I'm the one getting sick. It's been about taking care of you and not me. Now, it's not even about me at all, except where you see me as a means to an end. Kon and I? We're not property. You can't treat us like we are."

"He's my son. I won't let anyone take him from me, no matter what I have to do."

"Or whom you have to hurt?" Chloe asked.

"I haven't hurt anyone."

"And you're crazier than I thought," Chloe replied, squeezing his hand back. "Because you've done nothing but hurt the both of them since he told you he was pregnant."

It was his mother who spoke next and that threw him.

"You're wrong, Lana."

"I'm what?"

"You're wrong. You think love is about owning someone, controlling everything they do and feel and it's not. It's about being willing to give up everything for them. You can't really love Connor, if all you truly want to do is own him. He's not a pet."

"I know that."

"No, you don't. I don't even think you can hear what you're saying. You just want Connor in your life because he's yours, because you want to treat him like a living doll and play house with him. That's not what having a child is about, especially not a child as special as our sons are. He's going to need understanding and patience and for you to give and you're not capable of it."

"So you're taking my son from me?"

"No, you did this to yourself. You can't be trusted with Connor's safety, so you won't be in his life at all."

Lana put her hands on her hips. "I won't have you take him from me. I'll do anything to keep him."

"Then I won't give you the chance, Lana," Lionel replied. "Kal-El is my responsibility. I didn't ask for it, but it was given to me, and I'm going to honor this obligation. I know my son and I know you. You can't be allowed near him because, even if you don't want Lex in Connor's life, and I seriously doubt that you won't eventually change your mind and reveal everything to him-"

"I would never," she said, but her voice wasn't as strong or demanding as it had been.

"You're tempted," Lionel finished. "And I can never let that happen. You can't be permitted to run free, to be allowed to go off to Lex whenever you like, but you can't stay with Clark either, not after you've already attacked him."

"He got in the car voluntarily."

"But he didn't volunteer for new jewelry," Chloe snapped.

"I'm not apologizing for that."

"No, I don't suppose you would," his mother replied. "So I'm not sorry for this. You wanted to protect your son, as warped as your plan was, and you failed. I want to protect my son and my grandson and I won't. Lionel?"

"Yes, Martha?"

"You're going to take Lana out of the country for the next few months, some place far away from any of Lex's contacts. She'll stay away and the pregnancy will still be 'troubled' so I can be home with Clark. Until Connor's born, you won't be allowed anywhere near this country."

"And after that, Mrs. Kent?" Lana asked, the scorn overflowing her voice.

"I'm not sure, but you won't be allowed near Lex with nothing more than your word and a pillow between him and the truth. I won't have it."

"You can't do this!" Lana shouted.

"Just watch me."

24 Weeks and 2 Days

Clark sighed and pulled his blanket tighter around him. He really wanted to curl up on his side into a little ball. That made it all the easier to pull the blanket over his head and pretend that none of this was even happening, but he couldn't even do that. He was just too big now to get comfortable any other way than his back.

His mom was in Washington with J'onn. The two of them were consolidating her apartment. She wasn't moving, but she was bringing a lot of things home with her while she was staying at the farm again. Poor Kara was exiled to the sofa again but she was taking it well and, as a bonus, she wasn't six months to term either. Lionel had flown straight from Ollie's apartment to Buenos Aires. He had business contacts there whom Lex didn't know about and Argentina was a country that Lana had never been to. Ollie was trying to revise some of Justice's plans so that one or two of the Bros would be free to monitor along beside just Lionel's hand-picked security.

Kara was finishing her final full day at The Talon. She'd still stay there just to pick-up weekend and late night shifts, if she felt like it but from now on she was going to be a farmgirl.

Chloe, Lois, and Jimmy still had work. It was only just nine AM, after all. Only knocked up aliens had the day off. Clark sighed again. He was so lonely. It would be better once Kara and his mom were on the farm full time but right now everything felt so empty.

Sighing, he tried his best to lean a little to his left.

"You don't look all that comfortable, Yoda," Chloe said, whistling jauntily as she entered the room.

"Whatever, Mystique," Clark replied, glaring down from where he was hovering two feet off his bed. "Don't you have work?"

"I have that mysterious food poisoning again."

"And you could get fired for leaving all the time."

"It's one day, Clark, and Perry already has my copy on a car theft ring in mid-town."

"Wow, you're pro-active."

"I got a lucky break so I could have nephew time," she replied, frowning up at him. "How long have you been up?"

"About thirty minutes. I'm sure I'll crash in the next hour."

"Good thing we removed the bed slats, then, isn't it?"

"Very funny, Chlo," he replied, sighing a little as he bobbed. "I'd like to get a hang on all these weird powers one of these days."

Chloe giggled. "I think you've mastered the pregnancy one."

"Oh very funny. Was that your plan? To distract me from my boredom by mocking me?" His tone was angrier than it should have been, but it had been a long three days and he was having a lot harder time controlling how he felt, period. If he wasn't horny-and he was almost always that, all the way up to eleven-he was, as Kara put it, downright bitchy.

"It's one of those days, is it?" Chloe replied, sighing. "I'm sorry, Clark. I know this is hard on you. It's just not a big deal for any of us. I promise, okay? Really, I know you've been doing it for about a month now, but it's still smoking cool to see. You two are so amazing."

"Right now I'd settle for being able to imitate a lead zepplin," he groused. "This whole floating thing is very annoying."

"But it looks so comfy," Chloe replied, striding to the mattress and reaching up on tip toe so that she could put her chin on his stomach. "How's my favorite mini-ALF this morning."

"You know, you say that now but he'll end up eating cats or something."

"Do you?"

"No, but God has a weird sense of humor when it comes to Kryptonians. Notice how I'm pregnant and everything."

"You're pleasantly plump."

"With a six month old fetus," he finished. "Sorry I snapped a minute ago."

"Welcome to the wonderful world of hormones. Now you know how I went from sane to bitch in 4.5 seconds back in high school."

"Yeah, I needed to cut you more slack back then."

She shrugged, "Nah, I was a total bitch in sophomore year."

"Well, you're wonderful now," he said, wincing out how cheesy that sounded out loud.

The effect of his words was immediate. Chloe lifted her chin and stepped back away from him. "Clark about that day with J'onn and everything..."

He groaned and forced himself to turn to his left to face her. "Chlo, give me a break here. I can barely move and I can't really chase you around the house right now, okay?"

"I noticed."

"Right, so don't do the avoidance thing, please."

"I wasn't, but I think laying all over your stomach while we talk about, you know-"

"Us?"

"Exactly. I don't think that's a good idea either. We both need to be clear-headed for this. I mean, as clear-headed as you can be with about a ocean's worth of Kryptonian hormones flowing through you."

"Fair point," he replied, bobbing a little. "I meant what I said the other day, Chlo. I'm in love with you and if you say 'hormones,' you know I can flash fry you where you stand."

"And I'll just heal, o fearsome traveler."

"You know what I mean. Don't just write everything off because of what's happening to me. Lana would do that. I know what I want and I'm still who I was."

"And until three days ago, Clark Kent never noticed that I existed as more than the best friend."

"I think we both know that's not true," he said, blushing at thoughts of what had happened between them in the loft.

"Alright, before everything fell apart with you and Lana and Kon started short-circuiting whatever restraint you had over your nether regions."

"What about last year? I wanted to get together after the Phantom Zone and the whole year, every time I saw you with Jimmy, I wanted to flatten him."

"I could see that when you crashed Lex and Lana's engagement party. You were very keen on making me the back-pocket girl."

"Chlo, I was drugged."

"And I'm always the back-pocket girl and I know there's always someone better."

"There isn't. Chlo, nothing's changed from when we were first up here and you gave me Norman. I can't ever tell anyone, ever, what I really am."

"Who," she insisted.

"You know what I mean," he replied, patiently.

"So you're in love with me because I'm the only available option besides a life of celibacy. That's making me swoon, right there Clark."

"I...that didn't come out right."

"Look, a lot has changed in the last week and it's okay if you felt something that isn't still there."

"No! I did mean it. I...look, I'm an alien."

"Intergalactic Traveler."

"Chlo, we just proved it. There aren't a lot of girls who'd put up with me. In fact, last time I checked, it was just you."

"Lois is still around."

"Lois annoys the Hell out of me. She's not someone I can lean on no matter how much she's bonded with my mom and Kara."

"So I'm the only one."

"No, that's exactly it," he said, reaching out for her and blushing when he rocked in the air. "You'll stay." He snorted. "Not to tempt fate, but I could wake up neon blue tomorrow and you'd still be here. Hell, most people who walked in on me this morning would either have a heart attack or run screaming. I'm not stupid."

"Most people don't know you," she insisted.

"I don't need them to. I have you and you're all I want," he replied, one long finger stroking the back of her hand. "I meant what I said, Chlo. I'd always mean it."

"Clark-"

"Look, no pressure."

"Yeah right."

"I mean, I don't need you to say it back or fall in love with me or whatever, but you could give me a shot." He sighed, "We both know I'm not going anywhere for the next three months anyway. I just...could we date?"

Her eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? After nine years and more Apocalypses and Watergate experiences than I can count, you want to date?"

"Uh, yeah. Except it would have to be dates that involved the sofa downstairs or in the loft or my bedroom."

Chloe laughed. "Did you hear that, Connor? Your daddy is trying to seduce me."

Clark's eyes widened when he realized how what he'd said sounded. "No, I...no. I just meant that I can't really go out so we couldn't actually do a movie and dinner thing or go to Metropolis or...forget it. I'm insane. Did you hear that, buddy? You just officially made your dad nuts. No one would date me."

And damn it. He was doing that completely, in no-way girly sniffling thing that had started since Lana'd left him with child.

"Clark," Chloe said kindly, squeezing his hand. "I'd love to stay in on the farm with you one night this week."

"Really?"

Chloe's smile widened and she leaned her chin back on his stomach. "A night with my two favorite guys? How could I say no to that?"

"Really? Really?"

"What? Are you a parrot now? Of course, I'll go out with you. I just can't promise anything. I worked really hard trying to get past the stupid high school crush thing."

"I know," he said, surprised he could keep his voice level when his heart was breaking. "I just wanted to give us a chance."

"Well, fine then. I can come by the farm tomorrow after work."

"Great," he replied. "Uh, can you give me Jimmy's cell, though?"

"You want to make it a double date?"

"No, I just...he offered to help me out with things, and I think I'll be taking him up on the offer."

"Hmm, mystery date planned by my three favorite guys, even better."

"Kon's not planning anything."

"I guess not," she said and, without any thought, she leaned down and kissed his stomach. "But he'll be a schemer soon enough."

"I hope not," Clark replied. "So tomorrow at eight. It's a date."

"Totally."

"Um, can you still stay though. I'll come down eventually."

Chloe giggled again and stroked his stomach. "I hope not. This is always the coolest thing I see all day."

"Happy to oblige, Phoenix," he grumped.

Chloe sighed and poked his bump, "Don't be such a drama queen, E.T."

"But it comes so naturally."

"You can say that again."

Author's note: Raise your hand if you really believe Lexana is out for the count.

That's kind of what I thought.


	26. Chapter 26

26

Clark groaned and pulled out his tie again. It was always crooked. Every time he tied it, it came out looking like he'd done it handcuffed or blind or possibly both. Damn it. He just wanted to look nice for Chloe, which was stupid in some ways since she'd seen him every day since the summer before eighth grade and he always just looked like a plain old, ordinary farmboy every time. Besides, there was something futile in trying to look nice (let alone normal) when he was a little over six months and forty pounds heavier than when he'd started on this adventure.

He was really hoping that Kon was just really, really large.

Clark slipped his tie around his neck one more time and started adjusting the length of either side. They'd intended to have the date a few days ago, but first Chloe had a deadline she'd had to make or risk getting fired and there was no way he was going to cost her her job. The next day they'd hung out, but it really hadn't been romantic. It had been one of Kon's more active days and he'd been so distracted with the kicking that he hadn't been able to do much more than sit curled on the sofa while Chloe, Kara, and his mom tried in vain to distract him. Then yesterday, he'd been feeling well, she'd been free, but the projector Jimmy had procured had short-circuited and they'd had to call it off.

Tonight, though, things were going to be perfect, well, as perfect as his life ever got.

He was feeling really good today. He hadn't even glitched since two days ago and having his invulnerability out for a few hours again. Kon was nice and quiet, and Jimmy, Lois, and Kara were setting everything up downstairs. Oh, and bonus, Chloe was already on her way from Metropolis so there was no chance of another last minute story popping up.

Yup, perfect, except for the stupid fact that his tie looked like a five year old had tied it.

"Damn it!" he cursed, undoing it yet again.

"Don't swear, sweetheart. It's a bad habit you need to get out of before Kon's born," his mother said, striding across the room and holding out her hand, palm up, in front of him.

"I know, mom, and I'm sorry," he said, handing her the offending piece of silk. "Although, dad never completely gave up swearing. He used to curse at the tractor all the time."

"And I was the one who had to explain to your second grade teacher why you said 'damn it' when you couldn't get your calculator to work in class."

"Fair point," he replied, smiling when she finished everything off with a sharp knot that would have looked perfect on any lawyer or CEO in the city. "Thanks."

"Of course, baby."

Clark sighed and looked back in the mirror. He'd chosen to wear the grey slacks-which were no longer loose anymore-and the maroon button down Chloe'd been so insistent he wear out of the store in Gotham. At least he knew she liked that look. He turned from side to side and tried to ignore the amused smile on his mother's face. It was kind of funny. In his head, he still expected to see himself in the mirror as he'd been four months ago. Every time he saw himself now, with what really did look like a beach ball adhered to his stomach, it came as a shock. He'd just never get used to all the changes.

"Maybe this was a stupid idea," he said, turning away from the mirror.

"Baby, you look very handsome."

He nodded and eased himself down onto his desk chair. "You have to say that. You're my mom."

"I say it because it's also very true. You look better than you have in months. I think the last few days of rest and sunshine and no stress have done a lot for you. You just seem more peaceful."

"I do feel better," he answered. "I mean, I'm still worried about how much Lex knows, but he couldn't know everything, could he? I know Lex. Look at how fast he took Chloe when he found out she was infected or the way he captured Bart. If he knew about me and all my weaknesses, there's no way he'd wait to have his very own alien in his menagerie."

His mother frowned and grabbed his hands. "First of all, don't say things like that. They're something you definitely shouldn't let slip around Kon. They'll worry him when he's older."

"I know. I'd never say anything about the Kryptonian stuff when he's just a toddler or something. You know I wouldn't."

"I know, but it's all about practice. Second, you don't belong in anything like that and J'onn and Lionel and I are working very hard to keep both of you safe and off of his radar."

Clark squirmed a little at the mention of Lionel. "Look, about him. I know that he and J'onn are partners in this and that he's not going to rat me out to the AI either, but are you only interested in working with Lionel because of the Oracle thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I saw you holding hands in Ollie's apartment. What's going on there?"

His mother frowned and squeezed his hand more tightly. "He sometimes will take me out for dinner or to a play when he's in D.C. We talk often on the phone, most often about you and Kara, actually. I suppose you could call it dating."

"How far have you-"

"That's not something I feel comfortable discussing with you but it's not anywhere near as far as you and Lana managed to get. I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. It's just that I enjoy his company and we have a lot in common and not just politics and business. He knows you and it's nice to have someone who understands everything I care about."

Clark considered that and nodded. "I...like me and Chloe?"

"In some ways. It's complicated and I'm still not comfortable with everything in his past, but he's been a lot of support for me as I got used to D.C. and then with all the problems you and Kara had before even the pregnancy came along."

"I see."

"If you're not okay with it-"

Clark shook his head. "I could have said something about it when he kept coming by the farm two years ago. I...he's not going to replace dad, is he?"

"Clark, it's not anywhere near that serious, and nothing could replace your father, but I don't want to be alone forever, either. We'll see. I should have told you about all of it earlier."

"I think I kind of had a hint, but with everything with Kon, I think I could have only taken so many shocks to my system anyway. Besides, you never stopped me from seeing Lana."

"Lionel's not Lana," his mom replied stiffly.

"I know that. I just meant that yo don't dictate my love life, as screwed up as it is, and I shouldn't think that I get to control yours either. I just don't really want a stepfather right now."

"We'll deal with that if it ever comes, but that will be a long time from now, sweetheart, I promise," she replied, smoothing down his collar. "Are you ready? I think Chloe just called Lois as she was passing The Talon."

He swallowed and looked down at his sizable bump. "Maybe."

"Maybe? After all these years and then having to beg her into this?"

"Mom!"

"Lois tends to exaggerate things, doesn't she?" his mother replied, smiling. "I know that Chloe was thrilled to have the offer, baby. She's very excited. Both Lois and Jimmy said so."

"I know and sometimes I think I worry about her mental health. Do you know any other girls who want to date pregnant ali..." he stopped at his mom's glare and changed his statement. "I mean pregnant travelers. She's nuts."

"Or," she said, cupping his chin. "She's just as smart as I always knew she was. You're wonderful, Clark."

"And you're my mom. You have to say that and not focus on all the weird stuff."

"It's not weird."

Clark patted Kon and snorted. "Really?"

"It's you and we're all fine with it. Frankly, we're all excited and Chloe's the most excited of all of us. You should have seen how much time she and Kara spent planning the nursery. She loves both of you. I don't know if it would ever be more than as a best friend. I can tell you what I suspect, but she loves both of you."

"I know but I look-"

"Handsome and Lana's done a horrible thing to you and how you feel about yourself. If I'd known she was putting you on the couch...how heartless could she be to her own child?"

He blushed. "It didn't seem like that big an imposition at the time."

"It all was. It was thoughtless and selfish and rude, and I'd love to slap her myself for every time she rejected you."

"Mom!"

"I said I'd like to. I would never do it, but she undid what I spent my life doing."

"And what's that?"

"Trying to teach you that it doesn't matter who you and Kara really are. It doesn't, sweetie, and Chloe knows it and that's why I'm even more excited for your date than you are."

"No pressure."

"Of course not," his mom replied, squeezing his shoulders. "You two will always be friends and she'll always help take care of Kon. I do have to have a serious talk with her about how much secret keeping she's supposed to do."

"Mom, I didn't know that I was that sick."

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. I'm your mother. If Kon were sick, how would you feel if he hadn't told you?"

"Awful."

"And when Kara showed up in London, how do you think I felt? As far as I'd been told, you were fine and then you'd been shot and J'onn was ordering bed rest. I was so terrified and that wasn't fair. I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you."

"But you have more important things now-"

"Nothing's more important than the two of you, not ever."

"I know. I just...I didn't know how serious it was," he paused and rubbed his stomach. "I do now and I'm really scared. I don't want to lose him and I don't want to...Kon needs his father, doesn't he?"

"Don't even think it."

"But I can't help it. J'onn told me all these things and Kara too and I know they're not wrong. My powers keep fading out longer and longer and I'm so tired all the time, mom. I just...you'd take care of him wouldn't you, if..."

She pulled on his chin again and he obliged her by looking up. "No ifs . I'm going to keep you safe, no matter what, and you're both going to be healthy. I'm here now, baby, and we'll figure this out. If J'onn and Kara can't, we'll find something else."

"I hope so."

"I know so. Now," she said, standing up and pushing on his shoulders. "No more stalling, Clark Kent. You're fashionably late enough."

"Oh mom, now I do sound like a girl."

"If you'd stop obsessing..." she replied, smiling at him. "Go on, baby, everyone's been waiting for this."

"You know," he said, stepping through his doorway, "Our family is way, way too close."

"No such thing."

"I am pleasantly surprised with how resourceful you are, Mr. Kent," Chloe replied, leaning against him and taking a sip of her soda.

"Oh, I'm resourceful now, am I?"

"Oh definitely. I mean, I was excited for a little DVD and some popcorn on your mom's sofa. I didn't expect this."

"I have my ways," Clark replied, "But I have to thank Lois and Jimmy a lot for this."

"Well, I figured that when Lois loaned you her car."

"The truck's not as comfortable as the backseat of an SUV."

"What did I tell you, Kon?" Chloe asked, rubbing at his stomach. "Your daddy has a one track mind."

"I do not, but we had to make the drive-in thing work and Lois's was the most comfortable car. I don't think she'd have done it if she didn't love you so much and if Kara didn't threaten to turn it into a scrap metal cube if Lois didn't do it."

"Hey!"

"Kara wouldn't really have done that, probably."

"Right," she replied, laughing a little as Cary Grant just ran around the lovable-yet-outclassed husband-to-be of his best reporter. "God, I love this movie."

"I know," he replied, offering her more popcorn. Actually, they'd had to set aside two bowls. He had one mixed in with nails and she had a normal one, although, he'd kind of worked his way through half of that one too.

"Jimmy had the print, didn't he?" She asked, smirking.

"Okay, well I know you'd mentioned it and made me watch it a couple of times in high school, but Jimmy said that The Big Sleep was a big hit with you last year. Besides, I thought the drive-in thing? Totally more fun than just the two of us on a sofa."

Chloe chomped into her popcorn and laid her head down so that her chin was resting on his bump but her ear was just over his heart. She called it time-sharing between them. "You know the best thing about being out with you?"

"We only went to my front lawn."

"Metaphorically."

"What?"

"I don't have to be self-conscious at all. I mean, with Jimmy, I always felt like if I ate anything more than a salad and some ice water, it was bad."

"I've seen you mow down popcorn before."

"Yeah, but I couldn't possibly out eat you."

"Oh very funny."

"I thought so. I think you both look very good. Kon's coming along nicely."

"When he's old enough, I'm going to tell him that you used to say things like that about him."

"Fine. I just...thanks."

He sighed and arched an eyebrow at her. "For what?"

"It's a nice effort, Clark. Everything-the movie and the making it a drive-in and even gettign dressed up for me."

"I wasn't going to go in just flannel. That's a second date thing."

Chloe picked her head up and smirked at him, "Are you that confident that there's going to be a second one?"

God no.

"I have my charms. I know I do. Besides, I have leverage. If you want to be able to see your nephew again, you'll meet me on my mom's sofa same time next Saturday for an action double feature."

"Make sure it involves Bale or Depp and it's a date."

"I should feel threatened."

"No," she said, bringing her lips to his. "You really shouldn't."

He gulped, "Ah, Chlo, you don't have to-"

"No, I don't, but I want to," she said, kissing him deeply, thrusting her tongue deep inside his mouth.

Clark had three competing reactions at once: a) it's about time, b) must slip into superspeed to get rid of her pesky blazer, and c) kiss back, idiot!

The kissing back instinct won although he did manage to make short work of her blazer too.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him as she sat back up. "I loved that coat."

"Too many clothes."

"Oh no. I don't what you've heard, but I'm not the kind of girl who gives up the milk for free on the first date. Father Murphy says that's how-"

Clark grinned ruefully and placed her hand over Kon. "You end up like me. Fair enough, but kissing?"

"Oh, I can do that," she replied, kissing him again, letting her nimble fingers come to stroke through his hair.

Clark wrapped his arms around her and was trying to find the best position. He soon realized that there was no such thing for someone as pregnant as he was. There was a lot of frantic shifting, fumbled groping, and possibly the wire in her bra shredding.

Huh, he'd never foreseen that side effect of his strength.

"Clark! How many clothes am I going to have left?"

"Some, I promise or you can borrow from Kara later."

"She's like a giant."

"Fine, you can have my stuff," he replied, trailing kisses down her throat. "Don't care."

"Me neither," she replied, breathily. "Oh God."

She was doing that thing again, letting her left hand stray ever lower and, just like in the loft, he was more than responding. Her tongue was amazing and her fingers were tickling his hair and oh god was right and then-

The hand in his hair slipped away.

"Chlo? What the Hell?" he asked and then winced a little when his head hit the roof of Lois's car. Opening his eyes, he groaned when he realized that he was hovering a few inches above the seat. If he bobbed any farther, Lois wouldn't have a roof left. "Oh man," he blushed and pushed Chloe gently back off of him. "I...oh this is so embarrassing."

"I think it's flattering," Chloe replied. "I got you worked up enough to fly. How cool is that?"

"It's not very," he snapped. "I'm going to ruin Lois's car. I...this is stupid. You should be out with Jimmy or something."

"Who's been dating your cousin for a year," she reminded.

"Whatever. I mean, how about that Dale guy in archives or that new intern from Met U who has Strunk and White memorized. Or, I don't know, what about that nice homeless guy outside The Talon who thinks there are scorpions in his beard?"

"He's too high maintenance," Chloe quipped. "What makes you think I'd be interested in any of them."

"Well, they don't float when they make out."

"Their loss."

"They aren't six months pregnant."

"It's a transitory condition at best and Kon's worth it."

"They're your species," he pointed out bitterly.

"I think we solved that question about if humans and Kryptonians could end up with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids," she replied frowning. "Clark, I don't want anybody else."

"I...this is really fucking weird."

"Language!"

"Okay then. This is really freaking weird," and to punctuate that sentence, as if he'd been waiting for a cue, Kon started kicking right under Chloe's hand. "See? That doesn't happen on any other guy's dates."

"Well no, but that's not a bad thing," Chloe replied, stroking his stomach and cooing at Kon. "I'm happy, Clark."

"I...why?"

"Because you're my best friend and Kon's the best thing that's ever happened to any of us and because, to be really shallow, you're hot."

"Yeah right."

"Exactly right," she said, leaning up and kissing him. "I definitely don't regret being here tonight."

Clark hesitated. "I...oh wow, do that thing with your tongue and my ear again."

"Men are so easy and pregnant men are even easier," she replied, darting her tongue out and oh that was good. Clark closed his eyes and tried very hard not to whimper when something tore.

He opened his eyes again and shook his head when he realized he was looking out into the clear night. "Fu...fudge." Yeah, and that was lame. "I tore Lois's car."

Below him, Chloe giggled. "I'll have Ollie pay to fix it. Believe me," she said, rubbing at his arms and shoulders and, of course, sparring a loving pat for Kon. "It was so worth it."


	27. Chapter 27

27

"Are we done yet?" Clark asked shifting under the sheet. "I just, come on, J'onn."

The Manhunter shook his head and stepped back from the foot of the bed. "Patience was a virtue of your people, Kal-El.

"Only the totally old ones," Kara supplied, standing on her tows in an effort to see over the sheet. He kind of appreciated that she wasn't obviously using her X-ray vision on him.

"See, that's nice to know. I'm completely in bounds for stuff on Krypton then. Higher civilization, maybe. Still snippy teenagers totally expected," he replied, yanking on his boxers and while still trying to keep his modesty.

"You're almost 22, Kal. You're no longer allowed to be capricous, just me." Kara replied, handing him his jeans and smirking at the elastic band on the top. His mother had gotten to all his jeans about a month ago and altered them to be as close to maternity-no, scratch that, paternity -jeans as she could, complete with a wide elastic strip at their tops.

"Is he still allowed to mope?" Chloe quipped, her hand still laying gently over his shoulder as it had been since J'onn had begun his exam.

Clark glowered at her as he slipped on his jeans. "You know, we don't have to be this close a family. I mean, I know you missed out on all the ISIS appointments, but it's really weird having everyone just milling around while I'm being examined."

"It happened in ISIS," Kara pointed out, smacking her gum.

"But there was like a corner and you weren't allowed in it and I'm pretty naked under that sheet and-"

"Everyone who hasn't seen Kal naked before raise their hands," Kara replied.

Even Chloe kept hers down. There had been that one accident back in eighth grade where she'd been looking for a bathroom to change in before going down to the swimming hole with him. Still, he wasn't supposed to be a free show for all the women in his life.

His mother sighed and patted his arm. "It's fine, sweetheart, I'd be here for the same set of appointments if it were Kara."

"And that doesn't make me feel all that better," he grumped, leaning back against his headboard. "A little privacy would be nice."

"I can see through anything," Kara pointed out. "And I don't perv out on baby cousins but the check-up's important and it this first one since leaving the lab of evil."

"Speaking of, how am I doing, J'onn. Oh and when did you get a medical degree?"

"I don't have one as such but your father-"

"Jor-El," Clark said flatly, taking his mother's hand.

"If you insist on that point," J'onn replied tiredly.

"I do."

"Jor-El briefed me on the basics of Kryptonian physiology, especially on how you react to the yellow sun. He wanted me to be prepared in the event that something adverse happened to you here."

"He didn't leave notes for the pregnancy thing?" Chloe prodded.

"He was a wise man but he did not foresee this. It was such a slim chance that we didn't prepare for it."

"Your bad," Kara replied and Clark blinked at her appropriation of the euphemism.

"Yes, well, we're trying to make amends for that now. As far as I can tell, everything looks to be progressing nicely. You can also thank Mr. Queen for the ultrasound."

"Which is so superfluous with our vision," Kara pointed out.

"It may be but it's nice to have the images for comparison to typical pictures for human fetuses at the same age."

"I...okay," Clark replied.

"And everything else?" his mother asked.

"I am not happy that Kal-El has actually managed to lose a few pounds this week."

"Oh, shouldn't I be happy about that?" Clark asked, glaring at his stomach. He loved Kon. It was just couldn't he be smaller?

"You shouldn't be losing any weight this late in the pregnancy," J'onn corrected.

"And I've been trying to supplement all those supplements Lana had access to with just ridiculous amounts of protein powder."

"Which I've found congealing in the sink at least three times this week," Chloe reminded him. "It sucks, I know, but you're going to have eat more. In fact, the rest of us are going to have to watch you from now on to make sure that you actually do it."

"I'm not four."

"37 pounds, Kal-El. Kon needs more calories than he's getting. If your mother has to babysit you to make it so, then I'm not sorry about that at all."

"Oh, he'll be eating. Now that I'm back from Washington, I will make sure that he drinks everything we give him," his mom said, shaking her head slightly. "Anything else?"

Chloe snorted. "I'm the one who was on the 'do not admit' list for ISIS."

Clark flinched at that. "I know and I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better. I didn't want to be there either."

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "I know. I'm just saying that I'm a little behind on how this is supposed to work."

He frowned, "How what works?"

"She doesn't know how Kon's getting out, Kal," Kara clarified, rolling her eyes.

Clark blushed so bright he'd have glowed if they shut off the lights. "I...oh."

"I assumed we're not talking C-section here, and I heard you shot down Jimmy's Alien theory."

"There's not chest bursting!" Clark defended.

"See, then I'm running out of options," Chloe said, quickly avoiding eye contact.

"Chloe," J'onn started, as poised as always, "it should work much the way a human birth would."

She frowned, "Uh, not that I want to relive old junior high embarrassments but I thought that everything was you know-"

"Normal?" Clark asked, his tone short. "No, I thought so too and it is, erm, was until about the fifth month." He swallowed and looked down at his hands. "J'onn, I can't finish this."

"The hormones his body is circulating have been slowly unblocking a vestigial opening."

Chloe's eyes widened and she looked down at the other end of the sheet, "Oh."

Kara smirked, "It makes sense, right? I mean, where else is Kon gonna go? Besides," she added, quirking her head at him. "Kal totally has child-birthing hips."

"I do not! Mom!"

His mother sighed. "Kara, don't tease your cousin. Clark, don't let her bait you. J'onn, thank you for helping us. Now, if everyone will follow me downstairs, we can have dinner. Clark, you will be eating everything and we'll sit there until you finish. I've also made extra oreo dessert bars."

"Martha, will you marry me?"

"I'll think about it, J'onn."

Clark gulped at that. That was just so much no right there even if J'onn was only kidding and easily swayed by the magic his mother cooked up in the kitchen. Sighing, Clark started the awkward climb out of the bed. It was getting very annoying trying to counterbalance his stomach. Once he got to his feet, he noticed something odd. Rubbing at his arms, he asked, "Is anyone else really cold?"

"Naturally," Chloe replied, hugging her stomach. "I always have to bring a wool sweater with me for up here since you guys never put in heat on this floor."

"We wanted to, but Jonathan was farm-raised and didn't see the point in wasting the money and the cold doesn't bother Clark and Kara," his mom finished and now he noticed the thick shawl she was wearing. "Baby, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I...it's just really cold," he added, shivering a bit. "I feel almost like that time with Sean Kelvin."

"Here," Chloe replied, pulling out a sweatshirt from his top drawer. "More than a t-shirt would help. I'm sure it's just another glitch."

Clark noticed the way his mother frowned at J'onn before forcing a plasticine smile onto her face. "I'm sure you'll feel warm again by sunset. Why don't you just come downstairs where there is heat?"

"I'm sure you right," he replied, picking up the blanket from his bed and draping it over his shoulders to add to the warmth. "But it's just another sign of the same. I hadn't glitched in a week and I hoped they were slowing down."

"I told you Kal-El that that would not be the case."

"I know. It still didn't make me hope less."

"You're very good at denial, little cousin."

"This isn't good enough," Chloe said and Clark smiled a little when she stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on the small of his back. "We need more information."

"I am trying to find more about his people's records. It is not as easy as it looks."

"Then why can't we just go to Professor Willowbrook? The Kawatchee claim to be part Kryptonian and he already knows all about Clark and he's never told anyone in six years. It's a good place to start."

"I think it would be as well. Now that Lionel's in on this, I can talk with him about anything he might have gleaned when his connection to the AI was still fully intact," his mom said. "If you call the professor, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to meet with both of you."

"See, Kal. We have plans. Lots of good ones. Now all we need is pie."

28 Weeks, 5 Days

Clark leaned against the window of the truck but pulled back when he felt the cold November air beating against the glass. He really hated the cold now that he could feel it, and he was never making fun of Chloe for bundling up again. He was riding with Kara and Chloe to the reservation. J'onn was going to meet them there. His cousin was at the wheel since it was just awkward for him to steer around his stomach. He could do it, he just didn't prefer to do it. Chloe was sandwiched between them, her hand resting in his gloved one and both resting comfortably over Kon.

Yeah, he really hated winter.

His immunity to temperatures had not come back. It was the first thing to glitch and to stay that way. A day ago, he'd had trouble opening a jar of preserves for his mother and, as of yet, had not recovered his full strength. Some of it had returned and he was stronger than the average man, but he was far weaker than either Kara or J'onn. It had been thirty-six hours since this glitch had started and he wasn't sure if it would be as permanent as the temperature sensitivity had turned out to be.

He hoped it wasn't.

Seeming to pick up on his thoughts the way she always had, Chloe leaned her head on his shoulder. "Hey, you're really quiet."

"Just thinking."

"Still cold? We got you Gortex."

"No, I'm fine. I mean, I think if we stand outside my ears will turn red or something, but it's okay. If humans can deal with it..."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Oh, Kal's right," Kara said. "Humans are like made out of eggshells or something. They are so damn sensitive."

Chloe snorted, "I'll try to be tougher in my next life."

"Oh, you're cool," Kara replied, turning down the long dirt lane to the reservation. "You self-heal. You're practically one of us."

Chloe stiffened a little and Clark reminded himself not to take offense. It wasn't the comparison to him and Kara that bothered her as much as it was the casual reminder that she was meteor infected. Chloe had mastered her ability and was using it to save lives with the Bros. So far, she hadn't suffered any of the ill effects that had plagued her mother, but it was something that always scared her. As much as Chloe loved and accepted his strange family with all the alien bells and whistles, she still struggled to deal with the meteor mutant side of herself.

"What Kara means is that we're not really used to being weak. This whole pregnancy thing sucks."

"But cute baby!" Kara insisted, pulling the car into park in front of a modest log cabin. "I can't wait for Kon. Iad , I can't wait for my turn."

"Oh, you certainly can, Kara Zor-El," Clark replied in his most booming baritone. "We're not all going to be after school special worthy on the farm."

"Clark-"

"No, Chlo. It's true. I did this whole thing the total wrong way. I mean, advanced race, right? One of us should at least finish college."

Chloe narrowed her eyes as she helped steady his back. Even getting out of stuff was getting far too complicated. "You are both finishing. It's just a delay. You and Kon and Kara are all going to be nice and collegiate some day."

Clark smiled even if she couldn't see it. "Sure, Chlo," he replied, landing flat on his feet and groaning a little. "Damn."

Chloe landed nimbly beside him and started rubbing small circles in his lower back. "Is it hurting again?"

"It's a little tight," he admitted before glancing back at his cousin. "Are you sure you can't wait for the faulty powers and the back pain and the random floating?"

"Okay, that stuff sucks."

"And in my case the turning into a complete girl."

Kara shrugged. "J'onn says that whole part closes up without the hormones. Really, a few months after Kon's born and no one will ever know that you were pregnant and it's not like we're going to advertise it."

"Please don't," he said, knocking on the door. Clark was wearing a thick llama-fur sweater (courtesy of the MacMurtry's farm down Hickory Lane) and an overcoat, but he'd left it unbuttoned. He wasn't quite that cold today and he wanted to get the annoying reveal over with as soon as possible. With the way the sweater stretched almost to the point of popping over his stomach, it was fairly obvious what his condition was.

It took a few minutes for the professor to open the door. When he did, Clark had to give the man credit for his composure. Dr. Willowbrook took one look at his stomach and shook his head. "Numan, you're friend is already waiting inside. Also, I must admit that my ancestors never saw this coming."

"Heh, mine neither," Clark replied, stepping through the door, his hand gripping Chloe's tightly. They wound their way through a front hall and study teaming with old hardbacks and straight into the professor's sitting room. The couches there were overstuffed and made of worn leather. The scent of smoke hung heavy in the house and Clark coughed for the first time since his illness after Zod. He blushed when he managed to blow a few pictures off the wall. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay, Numan. I should have been slightly more prepared for your presence." The professor sat down in one faded green armchair next to where J'onn stood. Clark eased himself down into the center of the sofa and Chloe sat next to him. Her hand immediately seeking his back out. Kara, for her part, stayed standing.

"Thanks for seeing us."

"It's no problem. Your people and ours have been intertwined for centuries. You gave us back the gift of our caves and how can I not try and help you when we all know what great deeds you will do not only for my people but for the world."

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm really not anyone's savior, doctor. I'm more like a cliche."

"The knocked up traveler cliche?" Kara asked.

"No, the after school special kind," he lamented. "I just...I don't think I'll be saving anyone any time soon."

Chloe frowned. "At least until Kon's weaned."

"No weaning. We're never having that conversation. Kon's going to drink formula and he's going to like it."

"Kal-El, really, I think that it would be best if you accepted that that is an inevitable part of your current development."

"It's not happening, J'onn," Clark groused, crossing his arms over his chest. No, he was not pouting, thanks for asking.

"Numan, if I've learned anything since my granddaughter first showed me what she could do, it is that nothing in our world is impossible. I have found no greater example of that since Khyla than you."

Clark smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that-"

"There is no need for apologies on your behalf ever. You did everything you could and you gave her a great gift. She was as invested in our stories and legends as I am. It was her honor to have met you."

Kara laughed, "Not that I don't love you, little cousin, but they talk like you're a living legend. No offense, but you're just Kal."

Professor Willowbrook quirked his head at Kara, paying particular attention to the bracelet on her arm. "You are Numan's biological cousin, aren't you?"

"I didn't actually say that."

"My tribe kept in trust a bracelet much like the one on your arm for five hundred years. It was an antique from your people and it was given to Numan six years ago. There are no other bracelets like it on Earth as far as I know. Yours had to come from somewhere."

Kara shook her head and spoke to him in Kryptonian. "You should have known something was up when you didn't give the Squirrel your bracelet."

"I just couldn't but I thought for a while that I was waiting. I didn't know."

Kara looked at Chloe's wrist. She was wearing a large bangly green bracelet around it. "Are you still waiting, Kal? Because if you are, you're a fool."

"Kal-El, Kara," J'onn corrected, "That is a debate for another time. It's rude to ignore your humans."

"They're not exactly my humans," Clark corrected.

"You know what I mean," J'onn kept pressing in English.

Chloe grinned, "So if I'm your human are you my E.T.?"

"Can you afford the phone bill?"

"Maybe," she replied, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Dr. Willowbrook smiled and looked quickly from her wrist to his cousin's. "I'm a bit behind, Numan. Miss Lang I remember from her help with my charges, but I have never met either your cousin or this young lady here."

"I'm sorry," Clark replied. "My mom's going to kill me for being so rude. My cousin's name is Kara, in case you didn't pick that up, and this is Chloe. She's-"

"Is she the mother?"

Chloe rocked back and dropped his hand. "Actually, professor. I'm-"

"Everything that matters," Clark finished.

Kara snorted and added low enough for only him to hear, "When did you become all Casablanca?"

He assumed she meant Casanova and, in response, he just smiled at her and took Chloe's hand back. "I know you know why we're hear. You can tell just by looking at me, what's happened."

"J'onn was very forthcoming with your story, Numan. If you had preferred, for your dignity, I would have pretended it was a tumor or a lot of weight gain."

"I have no dignity left," he replied shrugging. "I don't care all that much anymore. Things graduated from embarrassing to terrifying."

"I don't understand."

"Clark's sick. The baby's not, but he's the one leeching off of Clark's powers. I...his abilities are fading in and out and J'onn says that they'll be gone within the next six weeks. He even-" Chloe broke off then and squeezed his hand tighter.

That really did scare him. Chloe, like Kara, didn't scare easily.

"The pregnancy is as high risk as one could imagine, Joseph," J'onn continued. "There have only been ten human-Kryptonian pregnancies with any recorded information about them and five of them have ended with the death of both the pregnant parent and the infant."

Professor Willowbrook nodded but, thankfully, retained his calm demeanor. "I see."

"We're here to see if your people have any records about what happened with the original Kryptonian visitors. You're descendants of Kryptonians, aren't you?"

He nodded, "It is what we have been told and it may very well be true. There are genetic abnormalities and markers in our tribe that are unique. Also, when the settlers came and brought small pox with them, ours was the only tribe who never lost a single member to the illness. We are never sick and we have always been long-lived, even two hundred years ago, it was not uncommon for our elders to live to be over a hundred."

Clark sighed. He loathed discussions of invulnerability and immortality. Even if Chloe, J'onn, and Kara were fated to live as long as he would (most likely), he hated the idea of it, of losing his mother and his friends, of watching the world change while he still stayed the same. What if Kon was just human enough to have a normal lifespan? What if he had to watch his son die?

"Clark?" Chloe prodded, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just thought too much was all."

"Did it hurt?" Kara snarked.

"Kara!" J'onn chided.

"No, it's fine." And it was. He'd rather Kara mock than be maudlin. He didn't want to think about immortality, but the flip side where he and Kon might both die before the winter was over, scared him so much more. He could deal with Kara being bratty and he felt as if she knew that.

"Anything else? Are there records for when it did not go as well?"

"There are a few tales of what the visitors did to make the pregnancies possible."

"I don't understand," Clark asked.

"I do," Chloe finished. "It's always the gods of the temple and the Numan with the power of ten men . The visitors who came were always male, weren't they?"

"We had a whole sexism problem back five hundred years ago. We got over it," Kara sniffed.

"I do not know about the other cultures which your people were supposed to have visited, but the three pregnancies in our oral history are always about the woman-forgive me for the term, Kal-El-

"It's fine."

"She was always human, but altered."

"Meteor rocks?" Chloe asked.

"Not like Khyla, no. The Numan would take his intended out during a thunderstorm with the rock and when they came back, she was as strong, almost, as he was."

"Lana."

"What?" Clark asked, surprised to hear that word from Chloe.

"They transfered powers partially, not enough to weaken the Kryptonian but enough to imbue the women with Kryptonian strength, to make sure that they could carry the baby to term."

"That's it!" Kara shouted, overjoyed. "Maybe in those cases, the strength wasn't enough. They died because they were human."

"None of the women in our histories died. They were each revered as Great Mothers of our tribe."

"So much for that theory," Chloe groused.

"The stories from China and Egypt include female explorers from your world, Kal-El. Those are the ones that most often went wrong."

"Our immune system?"

"The drain on your abilities, I'd predict," J'onn said.

"Oh."

"I am sorry if that is not enough to help you, Numan, but I have the collected oral histories of our tribe. I've spent decades transcribing them. Whatever I have, I would be more than happy to share with J'onn." He turned to the Martian and added, "If you'd like, we can spend the next few days consulting over these records."

"It would be most helpful."

"I...thank you."

"Again, it is my people in your debt, Numan. You kept our caves from being destroyed. You are a great source of hope for me." The professor sighed and eyed both Chloe and J'onn. "My friends, I mean no disrespect to you, but I would prefer it if I could talk with Numan and Kara in private."

"No problem. If it's all the best world-saving tips, I'll just have to find my own," Chloe quipped, hopping up and following J'onn out the door.

Clark felt the lack of her warm hand in his and he hated its loss. Looking back at the professor, he asked, "What do you need?"

"Three things, Numan. First, I have never told my tribe about whom I know you are. It is our legend but your secret, and I respect that."

"Now that I'm pregnant and starting a Kawatchee tribe of my own do you want permission?"

"Kal, don't be bitchy."

"I'm not," he replied.

"No, Numan, I do not intend that at all," the chief corrected. "However, I want you to know that you and Kara and your child would be revered by our people if you should ever choose to reveal yourselves. We are very much diluted from who we were, when your ancestor first fell in love with our Grandmother, but we are as close as there is in this world to who your son, Kon was it?"

"Yes."

"From who he could grow to be. He and the both of you will always be welcome here, even if I forever remain the only one in care of your secret."

Clark smiled and he noticed Kara was as jubilant. Despite the five hundred years between them, the Kawatchee were the closest thing they had to blood family on this world and it was in some ways a great relief to have someone else in addition to his mother and J'onn looking out for his family. "Thank you. It means a lot to us."

"Then do not wait five years before visiting again. In fact, feel free to come by once a week."

"I'm supposed to be on bed rest."

"You can totally ride in a car, Kal."

"I...why would you want me to come?"

"I'm looking for an assistant in my work."

"I really don't have anything to share the Kryptonians."

"I do!" Kara replied.

"Then I should be talking with you as well, Kara. However, I wanted to start working with you anyway, Numan. I have a lot of standing at Central Kansas still, even if I am only emeritus. If you work with me, after Kon is old enough, it should be no problem for you to find enrollment."

"I don't know. I have a lot of time that I need to spend with him after he's born and I was thinking that I might not ever go back."

"Kal! Aunt Lara would be so disappointed."

"Numan, that is unacceptable and your mother would never allow it. I am proposing that we start with independent study. Together we can start with what I know about the origins of our tribe, about the other children like Kon, but I would like to do more with you, to help you prepare for school again. Besides, Numan, it is not good for you to be relegated only to the farm. When you get too big to travel at all, I would continue lessons at the farm."

"Do it, Kal. You can't be a farmer forever."

"I could."

"It's not you. I know it's what you've done for three years, but it's not, and I'm not talking about in a 'Uncle Jor-El wanted you to _ way.' I mean that I see the way you get excited visiting Chloe at The Planet."

"Because she's my friend."

"And the way you look over Lois's articles and complain about how you could have done better. You want to be at the paper too."

"I...but Kon-"

"Will totally hate you if you use him as an excuse to hide in Smallville for another twenty years."

Clark paused. He'd never thought about it that way. He didn't want his son to resent him. Right below his fears of losing Kon were his fears that, when Kon got old enough, he'd resent his father for making him so alien . He didn't need to add anything else to the list of mad teenager fodder by using his son as an excuse.

His mother would never allow it for one thing.

For another, he could never bear to do that to Kon.

"Can we start next week? The shower's in four days. You can come, if you like."

"Bring a present. You make tenure so I expect it to be worth over a hundred dollars," Kara replied.

Clark groaned. "She's still adjusting to tact on Earth."

Professor Willowbrook laughed. "That much honesty is refreshing. I will bring something nice for Kon. Now, will you ever give something nice to Kon's mother?"

Clark quirked his head, confused. "Lana's out of the picture."

Professor Willowbrook frowned. "I was talking about Chloe. I assumed that she Kon's mother. Clearly, she knows who you are and she's very protective of both of you."

"I...it's complicated," he offered lamely.

"Chloe's not the mom. Kal made a mistake with a squirrel about seven months back."

"Then I certainly have no information about squirrel-Kryptonian matings," he replied wryly. "So Miss Lang is the biological mother, but I have gathered from you that Chloe is the real mother."

Clark blushed. He understood the difference between the two better than anyone. He did love Lara and he'd been, perhaps, too attached to the clone he'd met, but a lot of that had been coming from missing his mother so badly while she was busy in Washington. Martha Kent had always been his mother in every way that really mattered and he could never have hoped to receive a better one. His...Jor-El had chosen the Kents but they had all be lucky that Martha Clark had married into them.

"I could see her filling that slot," he admitted.

"Her wrist is very naked, Numan."

"Eventually, Dr. Willowbrook. I...I rushed into something very foolish with Lana and neither of us are ready for anything yet. Chloe cares about me but I've let her down a lot and she still probably thinks us dating is some hormone side effect."

"She does not, Kal."

"But she's waiting for the other shoe to drop," he continued. "I know that she's the one but with me and Kon sick and so much else unsure. It's not the time."

"As long as my granddaughter's last gift does not go to waste."

"It won't. I promise."

"I don't think this is a good idea, Clark," Chloe said as she stopped the rental car in front of the dilapidated gas station. "How are you ever going to convince her that you're not crazy?"

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, readjusting the windbreaker over him, trying to hide his stomach. "Well, I wasn't planning to head on in and say 'Hi, I'm a pregnant alien. Guess what? Your late husband and I were the same species.' I figured that would get the cops called in on us."

"Do you have a better story?"

"She knows that I visited her husband and that I knew him. I hadn't really gotten much farther from there."

"This is why this is a bad idea, Clark. It's obvious looking at you that something's up."

"I could just be fat," he replied, not believing that that was his argument.

"It's perfectly proportioned to just be on your stomach. It looks like your pregnant."

"I could be a huge fan of Miller Time."

"Okay, so I've been in Smallville so long that 'fat' = 'pregnant,' but this is a bad idea, Clark."

"And J'onn and Dr. Willowbrook spent the last two days pouring over everything and they realized that they don't have anything. All those pregnancies went well, more or less. I need more information. Dax-Ur had a son. It's the only human-Kryptonian pregnancy in recent history. I need to know more about it. I...it could save Kon."

"You need to start thinking about saving the both of you," Chloe corrected. "It's not only about him. The rest of us...we need you, Clark."

"And I need to know that I've done everything I can to protect Kon. All of it-ISIS, the Kawatchee, here-it's all for him. I need to talk to her."

"I can't believe you talked Ollie into providing the transportation," Chloe groused as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"And you know it's important so you followed me here."

"Of course it's important. It's for our...your Kon, but it doesn't mean it's a smart plan." Clark grinned at her slip. "What?"

He took her hand as the approached the door. "You can say our , Chlo. I know he's not related to you, but it's okay to think of him as part of you, too, Chlo. You've been here for everything."

"Oh, I know, but I'm just Aunt Chloe."

"You're not really his aunt."

"But it's the best title I have."

"Maybe there's a better one," he offered.

"Clark, I don't think-" she started, breathing a sigh of relief when the door opened. "Oh thank God for the timing. Hello, Chloe Sullivan, Daily Planet . We have questions about your husband's death."

The blonde woman who answered the door was as beautiful as he remembered. Honestly, he didn't believe she was all that much older than he and Chlo. Okay, maybe mid-thirties but still much closer to his age than his mother's. While she was still lovely-same honey-kissed hair, same wide blue eyes-there was a haggardness to her appearance that had not been there last year. This was a woman worn down by grief.

"I've already talked to the police about it."

"But there's been a spate of copy cat killings in our city, and we're trying to piece together whatever we can to stop him. Please, Mrs. Donovan, it could save lives."

She hesitated and finally, after oh so long, opened her door wide. "My son comes home from third grade in an hour. You will be gone by then and you will never come back, is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, trying very hard not to walk with the waddle he'd been cultivating the last month or so.

"I'm only doing this because I want to help. I don't want anyone else to suffer like my family has."

Clark nodded. He could see why Dax-Ur had chosen her. It took a lot of courage for a woman who was as hurt as she was to open that pain back up to help others. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she replied, eying him closely as he sat down. "What do you want to know?"

Chloe, who had chosen to sit on a chair on the other side of the room in order to maintain the cover story, started. "What happened the to him?"

"I don't know."

"What did the autopsy report?"

"What have the records reported in Metropolis?"

"Severe depletion of metals in the body and trauma to the neurons to such an extent that the meylin sheaths were stripped clean."

"It sounds like a painful way to die."

"I can't comment on what it feels like, ma'am," Chloe continued, her tone courteous. "I just know what happened in Kansas. What happened to Dexter?"

"I don't know."

"They didn't release the information?" Clark asked.

"No, they couldn't get anything."

"I don't understand," Chloe started.

"They couldn't conduct an autopsy. The equipment wouldn't pierce his skin. They had saws designed to cut through bone and they couldn't scrape his skin," her tone hardened and she glared at Clark. "You want answers? Well I want mine."

Clark felt his heart quicken. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then I'll tell you. You were one of the last people to see my husband alive. You show up here, five miles from town, without a car and you disappear while I'm still in the kitchen unloading groceries. Five hours later, my husband's dead and one of his prize minerology samples is missing."

"One of?"

"He had rock samples of every color-black, red, blue, green. He wouldn't let Jackson near the green one ever. He even had a gold one."

"What?"

"You seem very interested in geology."

"I am. Where are the samples now?"

"They're just rocks," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "They are rocks, aren't they?"

"I..."

"You came to him and you acted like the blue rocks he gave you were diamonds or, even more bizarre, nuclear rods from a reactor. They aren't just rocks, at least not to you or him they weren't."

"You know more about Dexter than we thought you did," Chloe concluded.

"I loved him, maybe so much that I didn't start to ask questions until he died. There were the rocks...they're meteor rocks, the man who bought them verified them as being identical to the samples from Smallville, Kansas."

"Who bought them?" Chloe demanded.

"There were two people. A girl, very pretty, who was looking for samples of the blue rock. I had no idea why she wanted it, but the funeral costs were so high and she offered 10,000 dollars for all the blue I had."

"When was this?" Clark asked.

"Almost a year ago, a few weeks after the funeral."

"And the other purchaser?" Chloe asked.

"He was a man from Cadmus Labs in Metropolis. He cut me a blank check for all of it. That was about a month ago. We're getting ready to move from out here to the nicest house in the city. I have enough for Jackson to go to the best college when he's old enough. I didn't need them, did I?"

Clark's throat was dry. Lex had the samples. He had a color Clark had never even heard of that could do anything to him or to Kon. "No, I guess you didn't."

"What do they do?"

"What?"

"Why are they so important? Dexter never took the blue one off his wrist and he made me wear a necklace of it around my neck from the day I told him I was pregnant until the day Jackson was born."

"Jacks has one, doesn't he?" Clark asked.

She narrowed her eyes, "How did you know about Dexter's nickname for him?"

He paused and cursed to himself. Dax-Ur had done what he had. He'd given his son a name that could easily be shortened to his true Kryptonian one without anyone becoming suspicious. Jax was a name someone curious like Lex would notice. Jacksonwas not.

"How?" She asked again.

Clark looked to Chloe. She was going to kill him for this. "Dexter and I are from the same country. I...it doesn't exist anymore. There was a war and it's complicated, but he left before the war broke out. My cousin and I were sent away when we were very little. I don't even remember what it was like. Hell, I didn't know I was from their until my parents told me when I was a freshman in high school. Jax was a common name there."

"Where was it?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Where are the other refugees."

"There aren't any. There was a genocide. There are only four people left from our entire race-me, my cousin, my son, and yours.

"Clark!"

"I have to tell her something, don't I?" He shot back at Chloe.

"But you won't tell me everything. My husband wrote meticulous notes in something that looks like Chinese but wasn't. He never let me take Jackson to the doctor, not once. Of course, Jackson has never been sick. Never had chicken pox or a stomach ache or a soar throat. Doesn't that seem weird to you?"

"Not to me, no."

"My son's not normal, do you know that too?"

"When you say-" Chloe started.

"He remembers everything, doesn't he? Started reading very early, maybe two, and can quote any line of anything he's ever read, even tell you the page number it's on and the font type used in the edition he's read. He's excellent at math, too, a prodigy."

"He's eight. They want to bring in a tutor from the state college to teach him differential equations. I barely passed high school Geometry. All of that ferocious intelligence is from his father. Where were you from, Clark?"

He closed his eyes and it took everything he had not to rub his stomach. It was a comforting habit he'd fallen into so long ago without even realizing it. "I can't tell you. It's not safe for you to know it and Jax is far too young to understand it. I don't think I even get it some days."

" What are you?"

"He's my best friend and a good man, better than even your husband was," Chloe replied, her tone clipped. "That's all you need to know. We came for answers and we have all we need."

"I don't have mine."

"Whatever you can guess is probably close enough," Chloe replied, standing up and crossing over to Clark, clasping his hand in hers. "I'm sorry about Dexter."

"No, you're not."

Chloe, while she was sorry Dexter had died, was not fond of him. No, she'd never met him, but she railed more than once to Clark about what a worthless coward the other man was. He'd known something was seriously flawed with Brainiac and instead of staying and trying to warn the rest of Krypton, he'd left them to die. Clark's other family, his people, could still be alive if Dax-Ur had admitted his mistakes.

Chloe could not forgive that.

"She's sorry for your suffering," Clark amended, standing as fluidly as he could which wasn't very. "Mrs. Donovan, I am sorry. I appreciate everything you told me."

"What's going on here? You can't just leave."

"It's best if we do, after you turn over your husband's papers to me."

She placed her hands on her hips and strode up to him, until she grazed against Kon. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm the only one left. I get to make the calls for the rest of us, and I'm making them. His records belong to me and to my cousin. I can read them and I need them. Jax is too young for that. When he's old enough, I'll teach him, but until then, the records are mine."

"And you're expecting me to do this and you're not giving me anything."

Clark sighed, "I'm giving all I can and more than I should. Maybe when Jax is older and he can protect you the way I have my parents, but not now."

"There my husband's records."

"Can you use them?" Chloe asked.

"Of course not."

"We can. Clark's son is very sick and those could help. Are you going to let an infant die to spite us? Would you really do that?"

"What kind of woman do you think I am?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping you're a good one, that you're going to teach Jackson to be a good man. That's going to be crucial for all of us. Now please, just show us to his lab so we can leave."

Mrs. Donovan looked between them and shook her head. "This isn't over."

"No," Clark replied sadly, shoving his hands into his jacket pocket in order to resist the urge to touch Kon. "It's not. Two other things are going to happen. One, Jax has blue meteor rock on him somewhere. I'd bet it's a necklace too like the one you wore when you were pregnant. You can't ever let him take it off."

"I haven't so far."

"Two, one day, eventually, he'll take it off himself or he'll lose it or you'll get too curious. I'd bet that it will be the first one. When that happens," he said, pulling out the card Oliver had given him for the League's private line. "Have him call me. It doesn't matter if it's tomorrow or a dozen years from now, the number will still be good."

"Will I get to know everything then?"

Clark sighed and took Chloe's hand. "You won't want to know all of it. I never did. Now, about his papers."


	28. Chapter 28

28

"Chlo?" Clark asked as she opened the back door to The Talon. "I thought this was completely off limits."

"Usually it is, but no one is here. The Talon is closed for the day," Chloe replied.

Clark noticed how quiet it was in The Talon, how there were no cappuccinos steaming or teens from Smallville High chattering, no spoons clinking against coffee mugs or doors slamming. "Wow. It's a ghost town at 7 PM. That never happens," He noted, starting up the stairs and stopping half way up to catch his breath.

Chloe frowned back at him. "Clark?"

"I'm just tired, Chlo. My strength's kind of back-"

"Define 'kind of.'"

"I can bend steel but not exactly wad it into little balls like Kara. I could compress coal but not make a diamond by a long shot."

"And you're wheezing."

"It's been a long day and to make the flight I had to be up at six. I just like sleeping more than I used to and I'm not ready for early mornings anymore."

Chloe offered him a forced smile. "Well, no one's asking you to be an early morning guy anymore. I can wait until you're ready."

"I'm ready now," he replied, standing straight and restarting his climb up the stairs. "So why is The Talon suddenly Death Valley?"

"Lionel."

"Oh, I owe Lionel now?"

"Don't groan," she chided, pulling out her key and opening the door. "Kara wanted the day off and we needed you to go somewhere so that they could set up the party. There are surprises."

"And so The Talon got cleared out?"

"It's a little suspicious and we didn't want anything rumor worthy spreading through the town," she said, setting down her purse and leaning against her kitchen counter. "Do you want anything?"

He shook his head. He'd had a ludicrous amount of caviar and that stupid protein powder on the plane. He was at the point of curling into a ball (metaphorically, he couldn't actually do that if his life depended on it) and going to sleep. Yawning, he looked at Chloe'd uncomfortable futon. "I really just want to sleep."

"Lois gave a one time only special offer where you can have her bed but you can't get anything on it."

"Traveler slobber?"

"She's not changing the sheets."

Clark blushed. "Don't take offense, Chlo, but I don't have the energy to do anything but collapse."

"I know," she replied, heading into her bathroom. "I'm slipping on my fluffiest flannel pj's right now. There's nothing wrong with just collapsing, you know?"

He nodded and then cursed under his breath when he remembered that she couldn't see him. Slipping off his button down and trousers, Clark congratulated himself for putting on an undershirt that morning. The Tasmanian Devil boxers, however, were looking like a lame choice. He felt pretty stupid until Chloe entered the room in the hinted-at fluffy pajamas, ones covered in cartoon pieces of sushi.

Clark suddenly felt a lot less stupid.

"Nice pajamas."

"Nice boxers. What? Was Bugs Bunny unavailable?"

"He's on Mondays."

"Very funny," she said, slipping into Lois's bed.

Clark gulped. "Chlo, I float. I...it's really hard for someone to sleep next to me."

"It's hard for Lana to sleep next to you. I...not to warp your fragile little mind, but Jimmy and Kara share his stupid twin bed all the time. You're not going to hurt me and if you drop me I'll land on a feather mattress. It's going to be fine."

"I take up a lot of space."

She rolled her eyes as she pulled down the comforter on the left side of the bed. "You did that before you got pregnant, Paul Bunyan. Just hop on in here, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay." He walked over slowly and sat down on the left side, groaning a little when he realized how much it dipped under his weight. "You think the bed will hold?"

She snorted. "This bed's been through a lot and Lois had some wild younger years. It's definitely held more weight than this, trust me."

Clark's eyes widened and he tried very hard not to think about what she'd done that equaled the weight of one svelt reporter plus one 260 pound Kryptonian (well, two if you counted Kon). "Alright then," he said, laying down in the bed. He hadn't been down more than a minute before Chloe's head was pillowed in that spot equidistant from the curve of his belly and his chest.

"See, nice and comfy. The bed's together and you're not even air borne yet."

"I could be," he replied, stroking her hair.

"Well, you can save that treat for later, can't you?"

Clark sighed. "That's such a you thing to say."

"Jimmy doesn't mind it either."

"Oh, we are not talking about Jimmy Olsen in my bed."

"Lois's bed and fair enough," she replied, letting her hand stroke across his belly. "Do you think we did the right thing today?"

"I did what I think we needed to do. J'onn and Dr. Willowbrook are making such slow progress researching the Kawatchee legends and I need something. Dax-Ur lived here longer than any other Kryptonian. He had a child with a human."

"And his solution was to strap a radioactive rock to his wife and then his son. He and Lana should have hung out."

"Don't be like that."

"Like what?"

"Don't be so bitter. I'm furious about what Lana did, don't get me wrong, but it's far too late to fix what Dax-Ur left to get fucked up. I miss the opportunity I could have had with Lara and I hate that Kara and I are really the only ones left, but I don't miss Krypton, and I'm so glad I was raised here, that I got to know my mom and dad and you."

"Thanks," she said, lifting her head long enough to smile up at him. "I'm glad you're here now, but Dax-Ur was still a coward in everything. He knew about Brainiac and all he did was runaway. Then he tricked his wife."

"He didn't exactly-"

"He lied about who he really was and now he left a little boy behind who's confused now and who's going to be completely lost when that necklace finally comes off and we both know it will."

"I tried to do the same thing," Clark pointed out. "And you tried dating Jimmy for a while after you found out you were meteor-infected. It's very hard to be honest with the people you think you love. If he'd told her the truth, she might have been afraid of him or, worse, disgusted by him." His voice was thick with emotion and he hated that he couldn't think about the mess he'd made with Lana without regret. Lana was crazy and she was vindictive but she wasn't completely wrong. Hewas a complete freakshow even before the pregnant thing had happened and now?

Hell, he should be charing admission.

"Only idiots are disgusted by someone like you, Clark." Chloe replied, her tone clipped. "Jimmy, Lois, and I are clearly geniuses."

"Lois Lane, genius. Huh, I'm having a hard time seeing that one."

"Very funny," Chloe said tiredly before digging her cheek a little deeper into his stomach. "We all love you."

"In the concerned extended family way?"

"Of course, what other way is there."

"There's the way that explains why we're having a sleepover, Chlo."

"I know and right now it's about you being tired and me being here and-"

"I'm never going anywhere. There isn't ever going to be any other woman for me. You know that, don't you?"

"I know that three weeks ago you and Lana were playing house on the farm and that she's the mother of your child. I know that I've been your back-pocket girl since we were still in high school and that now I'm kind of your last resort unless you want to date Lois."

"God no. I had a lot of sardines recently, Chlo. Don't make me Ralph on Lois's sheets."

"I love you, Clark. You're my best friend." He winced when she said it that way and now he knew how it had felt for her every time he'd politely shot her down. "But I don't know if I trust you enough to be in love with you."

"I don't think you let yourself be in love with anyone. Either you fall or you don't, Chlo."

"And I fell way too hard once and spent years putting myself back together Humpty Dumpty style. Clark, I just...this is nice enough, isn't it? I thought there wasn't going to be any pressure."

"There's not," he defended.

"Then," she replied, chastely pecking his cheek. "Trust me enough to let me make up my mind. You know that, no matter what, I will always be here for you and Kon. I'm Aunt Chloe and I take that honor very seriously."

"And you could be more."

"It's enough for right now, Clark. I can understand this. I can deal with this. I just don't want to rush into anything. If you change your mind..."

"I won't."

"I don't know that," she replied, sighing. "Stepping back from quasi-girlfriend!Chloe and back into one half of our Scooby duo, I have to tell you that I still think it was a stupid plan. She has so many more questions about you now and I saw the way she was staring at your stomach. I bet she'd put most of it together before we even showed up and now she knows ."

"No, now she can guess. If someone like Lex starts showing an interest in Jax, she still can't tell them anything. It's safer for her to be ignorant."

"Yeah, and she was so ignorant that she sold Lex everything she had. He has all of it. Black K is rare and so are the red and blue, but he's got a sufficient stash of it now to affect all four of you. I don't even know what the gold does."

"Dax-Ur might if we sift through his records. I know it left her more suspicious than before, but I needed what he had. I'd been hoping that there'd been something else about the pregnancy."

"And all you learned was that the solution of the week seems to be more Blue K."

He sighed and held her tighter. "I can't poison my son. Maybe it's the only solution for a human without Kryptonian strength, but it's not right for me. It won't save us, I know that much. Whatever doesn't work in the human-Kryptonian pregnancies, it comes from the Kryptonian trying to bear a human child, not the other way around."

"Then we might have to start digging into whatever records there are from China and Egypt. There's got to be something if we look harder." She smiled back at him and it made the tension of the day melt from his weary bones. "Remember what I told you the first week at The Torch?"

He nodded. "There's no problem that can't be solved by research."

"Exactly," she replied, rubbing his stomach again for good measure. "We'll find what we need, I'm sure of it."

Clark felt a little weird about wearing his obviously wrinkled clothes from last night to the shower. It was a nice relief when he realized his friends had plotted far enough ahead to have a pair of his modified jeans and a nice comfy flannel shirt waiting for him, along with his heavy winter coat. He hadn't exactly needed it in New Mexico, but in Smallville in November?

Yup, full on winter sucked. He was finally getting why Chloe wasn't all that enamored with the ice planet quirk of his.

When Chloe pulled up to the old Kent farm house it didn't look like the old Kent farm house. Clark's jaw dropped and he looked at his friend. "Chlo? What happened? How did you guys do this in just 24 hours?"

She grinned. "It's the perk of having a good friend who's a billionaire and a potential stepfather who's also as rich."

That small side comment was a downer on his mood. "Lionel's not going to be my father," Clark huffed. Opening the car door, he eased himself out of the truck (there was no way he could fit in Chloe's stupid Yaris anymore). The inclination to reach behind himself and rub at his sore back was automatic by now. The mild annoyance still didn't stop him from grinning at the extension that had been built onto his house. The house had been widened almost double it's original size and Clark was sure that, finally, they had enough room for Kara, his mom, and him all to have a bedroom of their own and maybe even enough for a nice playroom downstairs for Kon.

"So, do you like it? You didn't think that Ollie wouldn't take the opportunity when he had it, did you?"

"I didn't even think that this was a possibility. I mean, wow Chlo, they fixed up all the space problems I was worried about. Mom can barely visit now and Kara always has to end up on the sofa when she does. It's the best present ever."

"I certainly hope not. Just because Lionel and Ollie gave construction crews and interior decorators for their gifts doesn't mean they're the best."

"Maybe not," he replied. "Where is everyone?"

"Perk up those superears, then."

He blushed. Sometimes it was embarrassing how often a guy with superhearing forgot to Listen. It didn't take long for him to concentrate and pick up on Kara arguing with Bart in the backyard. "Oh man, why do I hear circus music?"

Chloe grinned as they made their way to the back pasture where the horses grazed. The sight there left Clark both speechless and confused. Just as his cousin had promised there was both a moon bounce, which A.C. and Lois were both currently enjoying. There was also one poor little donkey who still had his tail intact but Clark wasn't completely convinced that that wouldn't change by the time Kara got to the party games. There was also a large inflatable slide, easily two stories, and a petting zoo.

An honest to God petting zoo.

The pony was theirs as was the goat, but the little lamb had to be the Hubbard's and the llama, of course, belonged to the McMurtry farm.

His cousin, apparently, had gotten the county fair mixed up with a baby shower. He was surprised that there wasn't a row of games of chance that he was supposed to play for the price of a dollar a milk bottle toss.

"Kal!" Kara shouted, zipping to a stop in front of him. "We've been waiting for over an hour. Isn't this great? Do you want to pet the llama? He doesn't spit or anything."

"I...no, that's okay," he replied, watching as the Bros, minus the Manhunter, as well as Lois, Jimmy, his mom, Lionel, and Dr. Willowbrook all gathered around to greet him. "Guys this is really cool."

It was Bart who answered first. He burst out giggling. "Damn, Stretch, it is true. You really did get knocked up."

Clark narrowed his eyes. " Pregnant is the preferred term."

"You look hilarious."

"I'm still strong enough to put you in traction."

" I'm strong enough to do it and I so would," Kara said, glaring at Bart. "He's been hitting on me all day and it got old after James got here."

Bart raised his hands in defeat. "Sorry, Superchica. I promise to be good, but you have to give a dude some slack, you know? Stretch looks so funny. It's like he swallowed a beach ball."

Lois solved all their problems by smacking him on the back of the head. "Even I have more tact than that. Smallville, you look nice."

"Uh, thanks Lois."

"I blame my cousin though for only snagging you flannel and jeans."

Chloe shrugged, "There was a petting zoo and his other clothes are way to expensive for llama slobber."

"Agreed," Lionel replied, blotting his handkerchief against his thigh. "I wish I'd not worn my boardroom best here today. Clark, son, how was your trip?" The other people gathered around, including the professor couldn't stop himself from flinching a little at the awkwardness.

Clark shook his head. "It went as well as it could have, Lionel, and I'd prefer it if you didn't call me son. You already have two of those and neither Lucas or Lex is me."

Lionel stiffened a little but did not drop his mother's hand. Pity about that. "I see. I'm sorry about presuming too much."

"Clark, don't be rude," his mother added.

"I'm not. I just only like it when dad did that. J'onn's like a surrogate dad too and I don't like him calling me that either. It's just for my real dad, you know? No AIs or anything else."

Lionel nodded. "I can accept that for the time being."

"And now that Kal, predictably, totally ruined the party mood, do you want to go down the slide?"

"Kara, not that this isn't great and A.C. seems really thrilled with all of it."

"Moon bounce is totally awesome, bro."

"Ah right," Clark agreed, "But it's not really an activity for someone who's seven months pregnant." He noticed the way Bart still snickered and Oliver was staring at his stomach.

"Pin the tail on the donkey? I got extra nails for that."

He turned to glare at Jimmy. "You didn't try explaining to her that it's not for a real donkey?"

"Oh, I tried. She just insisted that I was the one who had it wrong." He sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I did try, though."

"Okay then," Chloe replied and he smiled wider when he realized her hand was in his. "Well, the human society will kill us if we play that. You know what's a good activity for the expectant father-"

Bart snickered again and this time both Lois and Victor slapped him. "Okay, fine, I'm trying to do better."

"A good activity could be cake and present opening, especially the present opening if it involves a sofa."

"Clark, sweetheart, are you tired?"

"Just a little mom," he said, squeezing her shoulder in a lame effort to reassure her. "It was a long flight both ways and my back hurts just a little. Sitting's good."

"Alright then, baby. I guess you can see the upstairs later. Oliver and Lionel's team did a great job. You're going to love the addition to your room."

"Did you change it?" He asked, alarmed, as he walked (not waddled, okay, totally waddled) to the back porch and then into the kitchen.

"No, man, we kept it as close to the same paint schemes and posters as possible. It's just bigger and the bed-no frame for it yet since you crash so much-but the mattress is huge, very comfortable for you and the, uh..." Oliver said, trailing off at the end.

"Baby," Lois supplied for him. "It's a baby."

"I was getting to that."

"Sometime in the next century, Jolly Green Giant," Victor snarked.

Clark laughed a little as he eased himself down onto the sofa. "Not that I don't appreciate most of the League coming but where are Dinah and J'onn?"

"J'onn's chasing a lead on Brainiac in Australia," Chloe said.

"Dinah's the League member running surveillance this week to make sure Lana doesn't contact Daddy Warbucks," Oliver finished. "Besides, I thought that it might be best if-"

"You didn't bring your new girlfriend around to shove in the old one's face?" Lois snapped. "That's a good instinct, Ollie. It kept certain parts of you intact."

"See, that's why you scare me," Clark quipped, leaning back against the cushions and lifting up one arm to let Chloe slip in next to him. "So, I heard I got presents?"

"Numan, you and the Flamebird are very much related," Dr. Willowbrook said from over in what Clark had decided to deem 'adult corner.' "She has been trying to X-ray what I brought for the last hour."

"Trying to?" Chloe asked.

"Old dogs can learn new tricks, Miss Sullivan," he replied, smiling. "Who is going to start?"

"Oh, I totally am," Bart replied, blurring even to Clark's eyes and reappearing with a small box wrapped in comic strip paper. "Open it."

"I...thanks," Clark replied taking the box and tearing it open. It was a Nike box and inside were sneakers so tiny that they could only be intended for a newborn. "They're nice, Bart."

"Just nice?"

Clark sighed. "I'm not going to squeal over things. That's what Kara's for. They're cool man and I appreciate the thought."

"And you don't find them cool?"

"Fine, they're so cute," Clark replied, blushing a little. "I'm a total girl now."

"You are not," Kara replied. "The sneakers are totally cute. Thanks, Bart."

"No problem, Superchica, and if you ever need anything-"

"I have James, thank you very much. I can't imagine that being the fastest man alive is good in every situation."

"Kara Kent, please don't make innuendo at your cousin's shower."

"Sorry, Aunt Martha," Kara replied by rote. "He started it."

"Bart," his mother intoned. "If you can't behave yourself, you won't be having cake either."

"I'll be good Mrs. K."

Lionel gave a deep, throaty chuckle, "You handle so many children well, Martha."

"Naturally," Kara replied. "Aunt Martha's the best mom ever except for being way too strict."

"And moving on in the present brigade, bro," A.C. said, handing him a thick sheaf of papers.

Clark opened them up and started thumbing through them. "What is this exactly?"

"Everything I've collected so far from talking with seahorses. I know Kryptonians and seahorses aren't even close, but I thought it could help, since you are kind of in the dark about everything right now."

Clark smiled and placed the notes beside him on the sofa. "Thanks that means a lot to me."

"No way some notes are better than Nikes you should see how I maxed out Ollie's card for them. Your kid is going to be an even better speed demon than you and Uncle Bart is going to see right to it."

"Right, Bart." Chloe replied chuckling.

"Exactly right."

"Since all the Bros have given you gifts, Clark, I guess I'm the odd Tin Man out," Victor quipped, passing his present to him.

Clark quirked his head curiously at the heavy book he'd been given and started unwrapping it. "Grimm's Fairytales: Abridged, Unabridged, and the Notes in Between by Alice Stone. Victor?"

"That was my mom's best book. She was a folklore professor at Met U and she specialized in fairy tales. You can read Connor the friendly versions now and the real ones when he's old enough for cannibalism and violence."

"Which is never," Clark finished.

"In our lives? He'll meet a fat-sucking vamp by the time he's fourteen, guaranteed," Chloe quipped.

"I guess that leave mostly the DP's finest and the old folks," Lois said, not recognizing the backhanded insult she'd just leveled at his mom and the professor. "Here, Clark, be in awe of my awesome gift."

Warily, Clark unwrapped the box she'd given him. "Huh, a perimeter alarm for the farm. That's, uh-"

"Totally superfluous. I win at gift giving!"

"You so don't, Kara," Lois insisted. "You and Smallville always forget to perk up your ears for things. Just turn it on at night. It's army-approved tech and it could help in case you get nervous about things."

Clark nodded and felt his chest constrict a little. Lex was still out there and who knew exactly how much he knew. He certainly knew enough to want to have as much Kryptonite stockpiled as he could and that didn't bode well for any of them, not at all. "Thank you, Lois. This could be really useful."

"Just remember to turn it on. It only works in the 'on' position, okay?"

"I know that."

"And before a fight breaks out, here's my gift for my baby cousins," Kara replied, handing him a lead box.

"Is it Kryptonite?" he asked.

"Of course not. I just didn't want you to peek."

"You're the only one who does that, Kara," he groused good-naturedly. Opening up the box he quirked his head at the cassette tapes in it. "What are they for?"

"I know Kon must be getting a little bored with the Monty Python-"

"Blasphemy!" Chloe, Jimmy, and Victor all echoed at the same time.

"Anyway, so I made some tapes of some of the children's stories from our planet. It's a way for him to learn even more Kryptonian. I mean, I know he won't when he's still in your stomach, but I thought it could be nice for him to hear it when I don't have to exhaust my throat, you know?"

"I do. Thank you."

"Totally welcome and way better than military technology."

"Numan?"

"Professor, you really don't have to call me that. I swear that just plain old Clark is perfectly fine."

"I am intent on bestowing the honor of your destined name on you," he replied.

Clark blushed. "I'm really just Clark, except for the fact that Kon's here for a few more months but I'm mostly just Clark."

"I have no doubt that you can be much more," he replied and he smiled at both his mother and Lionel. See, adult cabal, all planning to make him a superhero or something. "I have already shared with you the records of my people and a way to get you back into academia."

"Tenure," Kara said pointedly.

"But I have another heirloom from your people," he replied, handing him a small lead box as well.

"Everyone thinks I'm a cheater here."

"We do not, Numan...or, perhaps, just a little," he replied. "Please open it."

Clark nodded and did as he was told. Inside, he found a necklace on a simple leather chain but the pendant on the end, the symbol for hope, was a metal piece cut in a similar style to the one Jor-El had left in the caves. "Where did you get this?"

"The first visitor we ever had, the true father of our people left it as well."

"It's a memory chip, Kal, a perfect record of his time with the Kawatchee. It's a wonderful gift, although I don't know how useful it can be," Kara replied. "You totally pass but it was free. For Kon's first birthday I expect something in silver."

"Kara!" Clark hissed. "Really, Dr. Willowbrook, you have to forgive her."

"I enjoy her honesty. She has been entertaining to visit with in the last few days."

"She's what?"

"I'm catching up with our ancestors, Kal. It's been fun but I haven't found anything either," she supplied. "I can catch you up later. "More presents!"

"I have one in addition to the house improvements, so...Clark," Lionel replied, handing him and envelope.

Clark glared at it for an instant as if it were a scorpion about to sting. "What is it?"

"Clark, don't be rude, just open it," his mom demanded.

Not willing to incur his mother's wrath, Clark opened the envelope and shook his head. "It's a trust fund."

"Untraceable to you or to me but open for when your son with the proper forged documents which Mr. Queen and Miss Sullivan can provide when he comes of age, can benefit from."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want Kon to have a trust fund. We already did more than we should have by fencing diamonds."

"And Lana embezzled far more than ten million dollars and would have spoiled your son rotten. I don't see why I can't do the same in my capacity as your father's emissary."

Clark sighed and passed the note back to Lionel. "I just can't take that kind of money. It's not what my dad would have done. Please don't make me do it."

"I understand," Lionel replied, his tone increasingly formal. Beside him, his mother shook her head.

"Wow, that was nice and awkward," Lois said.

"And, wow, we shouldn't slow the momentum down for cake time," Chloe replied. "Martha, you have something for Kon don't you?"

"Of course," she said, pulling out a box to hand off to Clark. "Sweetheart, I want you to at least think about Lionel's-"

"I will, mom," he replied tightly, "but I don't think my opinion will change all that much." Unwrapping his mother's present, he smiled broadly. "Wow, mom, it's beautiful."

"I've been knitting it for weeks. It's hard integrating all the red, blue, and yellow into one blanket."

He nodded and stroked the soft chenile of the blanket. "It's perfect for the nursery."

"Well, duh, Kal. Your mom helped design the nursery so she saw it coming," Kara reminded him.

"So that pretty much does it, CK, except for what Chloe and I have worked up," Jimmy replied handing him a fairly heavy rectangular shaped package.

Tearing it open, Clark was overjoyed to find that he'd been given the first edition of the adventures of Norman and Harry. The cover and pictures inside were as beautifully illustrated as the murals in the nursery. The story that unfolded, the first chapter, at least, told how Norman and Harry met on Kent farm and was, to Clark's surprise, written in verse that would have made Dr. Seuss envious.

"Chloe, Jimmy, I love it!" He exclaimed, pointedly ignoring the way he squealed like a girl. Stupid hormones. He'd be back to normal in like two months anyway. Reaching over, he hugged Chloe as best as he could around his large bump. "It's a great gift and a great party. Thank you guys. I needed this."

"Ahem, little cousin, I think I did most of the planning."

Clark nodded and opened his arms up enough for Kara to join the hug. "Then it's been a great day."

"It gets better."

"I don't like llamas all that much, Kara."

"No, silly, there's cakes!"

"Cakes plural?"

"I made one for just you, sweetheart, I'm still worried you aren't eating enough," his mom supplied. "One for Bart and one for Kara and then one for the mere mortals to share."

"Oh mom," he said, glancing down at his stomach. "Really now. I'm-"

"Eat!" was the chorus from everyone else in the room.

It was later in the afternoon. Lois had some write up to finish up at her apartment and his mom and Lionel had headed off to Metropolis. She'd assured him before she left that it wasn't a date, that they had campaign funding to review, the shattering of the mug he'd been drinking out of had pretty much confirmed that he hadn't believed her. Okay, he knew his mom. It was just that he hated the idea of her and Lionel hanging out together for any reason, no matter how professional. Kara was outside with Chloe, both presumably enjoying the moon bounce and not crippling the donkey.

That left Clark on the sofa with a fresh jar of caviar in his hands. On the side next to him was Jimmy, while the rest of the Bros were scattered around the room. Ostensibly, they were watching the Sharks game. Victor and A.C. were fully focused on it, at least. Bart kept glancing over at him and shaking his head (although, Clark was growing to accept the covert snorts as a side effect of Bart's raging immaturity. He'd made up to Clark, mostly, by giving him half of his cake.). Ollie was staring at him like he expected something to literally pop out of his chest, and Jimmy's hand was creeping ever closer to his stomach.

Clark sighed and set down his snack. "Guys, really, this should be the same as all the times I've visited the Watchtower. We watched tons of games them and Jimmy please don't touch me."

"But it feels so cool and not in a gay way because totally in love with your cousin, but baby."

"God, now you think like her too," Clark finished, sighing again. "I'm still the same guy."

"Sorry, Clark," Ollie replied, genuinely contrite. "It's just that's like every guy's worst nightmare and I know it makes no sense but I don't want it to be contagious."

"You can't catch pregnant."

"The way the Merry Archer sleeps around? Maybe you can," Victor replied. "Ignore the morons, Clark. I'm completely cool with it."

"I think it's beautiful, bro. Totally about the harmony of life and balance and it's just a wonderful time for you," A.C. finished. "Awesome."

"Uh, thanks, A.C."

"Dude, don't take this the wrong way. Connor's awesome, I totally agree, and he's going to be fun to race when he's old enough but, uh, is it true?"

Clark frowned and then physically lifted Jimmy's hand from off of his stomach. "What part of 'please don't' is confusing you."

"Sorry, it's like a compulsion."

"I can still rip your arms off."

"I'll be good!"

"See that you are," he gruffed, turning back to Bart. "Is what true?"

"Kara said you totally grew a vag."

Ollie grew pale and even A.C. and Victor gave a subtle glance at parts south. Jimmy didn't bet an eyelash. Apparently, Kara had been sharing with a lot of people.

"It's an aperture, just like an opening."

"Down there for a baby. That makes it a- Hey!" He objected as A.C. put a hand over his mouth and dragged him out to the yard. "What did I do?"

"Learn some tact before you come back, Bart," Victor groused. "I'm sorry about that."

Clark shook his head and put his head in his hands. "My dignity is so far gone that it's set up an alternative life and alias in Mexico."

"CK, it's cool. I mean, it's totally just an-"

"Don't help, Jimmy. Kara needs to stop sharing."

"So," Ollie said conversationally, "The part where Kon's breast feeding?"

"That's not happening. I don't have those. I'm not going to have those."

"You're not actually, um, turning into a girl, are you?" Oliver prodded.

"Man, does anyone on this team have a gentle touch? Clark's still Clark. Everyone else should stop asking stupid questions and trying to manhandle him."

"I wasn't doing that," Jimmy objected.

"It's all cool, man. Now, let's shout obscenities at the Gotham Knights while they still have the lead, okay?"

"Thanks Victor."

"No problem."

"Hey, can I help?" Clark asked as he slid into a chair at the kitchen table.

Chloe shook her head from where she was washing dishes. Was it only five months ago that they were standing side by side at the counter, after the huge mess he'd made with Lana. God, he was an idiot. He never should have brought his female best friend to tell his girlfriend he was pregnant and he was also the only guy in history who had had that particular problem. Still, he was an idiot.

"You're supposed to rest as much as you can."

"I'm not an invalid here, Chlo."

"And I'd feel really shitty about making you stand up to do dishes."

Clark stood back up, trying to do it as smoothly as possible and subtly rubbed at his lower back as he came to stand next to her at the sink. "You're not making me do anything. I want to help you. So hand me a plate covered in icing already."

"Some people buy dishwashers."

"Those people can't normally do dishes in superspeed," he pointed out. "I'd do it now if J'onn wasn't so anti-me burning calories."

"So, how was the rest of your night. I spent it protecting the Hubbard's donkey."

"Is he okay?"

"No nails anywhere."

"That's good then. I think Kara gets things mixed up a lot."

"No, really? I hadn't noticed." Chloe replied wryly. "I heard A.C. and Bart argue when he dragged him out of here. I'm sorry that Kara talks too much."

"Well everyone wants to know how Kon's getting into the world and Kara couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her soul. I'm not really all that surprised."

"I know, but it's kind of awkward. I kind of guessed at it but I hadn't wanted to press because-"

"It's humiliating?" He said, finishing up one glass and putting it in the cupboard far above Chloe's head. "God, I never should have had sex, ever. I'm turning into a girl."

"No, you're not."

He narrowed his eyes at her and starting rinsing off a plate. "I have all these weird hormones running through me-more than Kara, by the way, they checked-there's all that stuff that you just had confirmed and you know what J'onn swears is going to happen eventually. Yup, practically a girl. I mean, I got all sniffly over the book you gave me."

Chloe's tone was wounded when she answered. "You don't like the book?"

"I love it, but I don't usually squeal and then tear up over something. This s getting so ridiculous."

She grinned at him and patted Kon with one wet hand. "Getting? Clark, you were always a drama queen and way too moody. This just exacerbated it a little but, honestly, of the two of you, Kara's always been on a more of an even keel. It's fine."

He snorted. "I am never doing this again, you know."

"No one asked you to, and it's a contingency plan thing. I...well, I don't think I'm going to cause you trouble."

He smiled at the thought that Chloe was open at least to being that woman for him. He set down his plate and started rubbing at her shoulder with his left hand. "So you do want to be the mom?"

She sighed and when she turned to him the smile on her face was painfully bright. "Yeah, of course, Clark. I'd love to be able to say that Kon's mine, but he's not."

"And you said blood doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for me and my mom at all. I love her more than I could ever have loved Lara. I know it."

"I know and I...I'm not ready to be more than Aunt Chloe right now. I want to be more. I love the both of you so much but it's muddled and I'm still not sure what it means. I'm not saying 'never' and I'm not doing this because I'm like Lana and-"

"You find me repugnant."

Chloe rolled her eyes and leaned up to give him a long, lingering kiss on the lips. "I'm totally put off by my traveler, of course. No, it's not because of any of that. I just need time, Clark. I'm not saying 'no;' I'm just saying 'not now,' okay?"

"I...you know I'm going to keep bringing it up."

She laughed and kissed him again. "It's nice to be on the other end of that intense obsession for once. Try your best to woo, I'm immune your charms," she replied, picking up another glass and cursing when it was too wet to grasp. Clark watched as it slipped, his perception as sharp as always, and then reached for it in superspeed.

And winced when it shattered on the ground.

"Oh fuck."

"Clark, it's not that big a deal. We have plenty of other glasses," she said, bending down to collect the pieces.

He pushed gently at her shoulders and took the paper towels from her hands. "I got it, invulnerable remember? At least I'm still that."

Chloe frowned as he started collecting the glass pieces. "What do you mean at least ?"

"My immunity to temperatures is gone and isn't coming back at least until Kon's born and we both know that. My strength is better but it's not close to what Kara's is, and now..."

"What?"

"My speed's out."

"It was just for five seconds."

"I...it glitched yesterday morning on the way to New Mexico. I know I'm not supposed to use it. but I overslept and I tried to make up for time by dressing in superspeed but I couldn't. This is going on forty hours, Chlo. It's not coming back or, if it does, it'll be as diminished as my strength. I...it's picking up."

"Clark."

He shook a little as he finished cleaning up the mess and tossed it into the trashcan. "We have to do better, Chlo. I...we have to find something, somewhere. I don't think I have a lot of time left."

Chloe was kind enough or, perhaps, just Chloe enough not to offer platitudes. And, even if they weren't an answer, her warm warms around his stomach made him feel at least a little hopeful, at least until the next glitch came.


	29. Chapter 29

29

"You know, Kon, I've really come to enjoy our bonding time. Because, really, if you think about it, I wasn't accomplishing anything at three AM. Nope, I was just sleeping. That's all very wasted time. I mean, the REM is nice, but this is much better," Clark said rubbing at his stomach where Kon was kicking again. Sighing, he turned his head and looked down at his clock.

Okay, so he'd been wrong. It was a whole 3:14 in the morning. Based on Kon's record, that meant he had about another forty minutes to go of activity time, which would mean he'd be just back to sleep in time for the stupid rooster to wake him back up, which he would because, while all his other abilities seemed to be failing him-two days ago he'd stopped being able to use his superbreath-his hearing and sense of smell were getting more acute by the day. So, while he'd happily slept through the rooster all through high school, the minute that bird opened his beak, he'd feel it pounding in his skull.

Clark sighed and winced a little when Kon connected with something that could have been a kidney. "Buddy, wouldn't you rather be up in the daytime? You like the sun. I know you do." Sunbathing had been big on his list of approved activities. He didn't have many left. He spent the days on the sofa or, sometimes, if he felt up to it, he'd make it up to the loft too. Chloe, who was having a nasty flare up of mono this month, came by at least two days a week. On the days she couldn't convince Bernstein to let her off, she hustled out of the Planet as soon as she could and they went over Dr. Willowbrook's notes and Dax-Ur's journals.

Ironically, getting pregnant had made him more of an investigative journalist than he'd been since graduation.

Still, his days were quiet and uneventful, although Kara or his mom or even Bart often hung out with him. He wasn't sure, though, if Bart was popping in for quality guy time (perhaps a qualified term at this point in the pregnancy) or if he was hoping to flirt with Kara and Chloe and eat his mom's cooking instead.

Apparently, according to Bart, Clark was hogging all the best women. He'd offered Bart Lois but he'd declined.

Coward.

Kon shifted again and Clark continued stroking his stomach. "Well, at least you like the early, early mornings. That's good. I'm not a morning person. I hated getting up to feed the cows when your Grandpa made me do it, and I'm not too fond of this. But you? Total early bird. You are going to love milking, I can tell."

Clark shifted again and glanced down at his bed. Annoying crashes aside, he was growing to prefer the new sleeping arrangement. Floating was so much more comfortable than any bed he'd ever slept in. It wasn't just cozy compared to his old IKEA special or the worn feather mattress in his parents' room.

No.

Long ago, he'd been allowed to spend overnights at the mansion-his mother's blessing and not his dad's. It had never been like that . It was just that some Friday nights playing pool ran late and the mansion had twenty different bedrooms. There'd be one he'd had sort of as his own the three or four times he'd crashed there. The bed had been large, even bigger than the king Oliver and company had obtained for him now, and it was a mattress that cost more than his family's truck was worth.

It had been awesome.

Clark had never slept better until now.

Really, if his back weren't sore and he weren't really the size of a walrus and Kon would sleep through the night...okay, a lot of ifs, but the floating was better than any bed.

If he could figure out how to do it voluntarily and stop crashing, he wasn't sure he'd go back to sleeping the normal way after Kon was born. If , no when . It was too early or too late, depending on one's perspective, to start worrying about all of that.

"Kon, I'm bored too. I tell you what, buddy," Clark said, pulling out the large padded headphones from the basket he'd nailed to the roof. It was sturdy enough to hold his tape player and a few select cassettes. Thumbing through his collection, Clark paused. "What do you think's better? I like the stories Aunt Kara made for us. I hadn't heard them before either or at least I was almost as small as you are. We could listen to your Aunt Chloe's tape too. I know she wants you to be kind of Irish, what with the Connor name, but I can't listen to 'Oh Danny Boy' that many times in a row."

There was the slightest flutter in his stomach that he took to mean 'no.'

Okay, it didn't mean that, but he wasn't going to listen to that stuff voluntarily no matter how much he loved Chloe. Popping in Kara's tape, he pressed play and placed his hands behind his head. "We were hearing the story about the grelak , remember? And how he lost his tail...oh man, even Kryptonian's had Grimm's Fairy Tales. Kon, maybe we'll just stick with Disney...no, wait. The Lion King and Bambi are total downers." He shrugged and closed his eyes, only about thirty more minutes.

"So, the grelak it is."

"Clark, sweetheart, did you drink everything?" His mom asked as she set a fresh pitcher of orange juice down in front of him.

"Yes mom," He groaned, glaring at the partially congealed mess in front of him. "This stuff sucks."

"And enough of it keeps up with your metabolism," she reminded, biting into her English muffin.

He shook his head and drained the last of it, wishing he still had his speed. Not that he could make things pour faster, there were rules about viscosity and stuff, but if he could try anything to make this whole thing go faster, he would have. "It's still pretty gross and how big do I have to be? I already gained 45 pounds."

"It's not cute to complain," she chided. "The way you speed, when your powers come back? You'll be normal for you in a month. I still had twenty pounds to work off after-" She stopped, realizing what she'd said. "Nevermind, baby. We just want you to keep staying as healthy as possible."

Clark set down his cup and looked up at her. "We never really talked about that."

"What dear?" She asked, her voice polite yet professional.

"The baby, not Kon, but what happened the summer I ran away."

"We don't have to. You apologized and I never blamed you."

Clark nodded and started tapping nervously at his plate with his fork. "Dad did."

"Clark-"

"No, he did and he was right, you know. If I hadn't been so stupid, if I'd just told you about Jor-El, I'd be a big brother right now."

His mother shook her head and pushed her plate away. "Clark, baby, it's not your fault. You were sixteen and the AI has never worked right. J'onn just told us as much. You had the ship threatening you and you didn't know what you could do to stop it. You made your choice because you thought about being invulnerable."

"I made it because I didn't want you and dad to deal with it. You both thought everything was fine and I didn't want you to know otherwise."

"You can always come to me. You could have always come to your father too."

I did.

Clark wanted to say that but he never would. To this day, he did not know if his father had ever told his mom about the scene in the hospital, about having the door to her room slammed shut in his face. Somehow, as honorable as his father was, Clark couldn't believe that he'd admitted about the truth about their worst fight. Revealing it wouldn't have made him come home from Metropolis and it would have made his mom so very angry.

Just like revealing it now wouldn't serve any purpose.

Everything had been settled and mended at a terrible cost years ago.

Still, that scene in the hospital still hurt and it haunted his nightmares as surely as his time in Summerholt or those long hours waiting for Chloe to wake up after she'd healed Lex.

"You can come to me with anything, Kon. I promise," Clark said quietly, slipping into Kryptonian.

"Baby? What were you saying?"

"Nothing, mom. Just something Kara taught me." His mother frowned but didn't press and he continued, "I know that I can come to you, mom and I will. I'm sorry it took me a few weeks to tell you about Kon, but I was embarrassed."

"I can understand that and you were probably in shock too."

"I think I still am," he replied wryly. "Every morning I wake up and expect to be me."

"You are you."

"I haven't felt like me in months. It's not all a bad thing," he said quickly to reassure her. And truly it wasn't. "I love him and what we have, what I can feel with him, I don't have words for it."

His mother smiled, "It must be nice."

It was an inadequate word, a small one, but his mother had never gotten as far as he had with Kon. She'd miscarried not just his potential sibling but several times before he'd ever come to Earth, and every time, she'd been squarely in the second trimester.

"We got wrapped around a little," he said. "I think what I meant to say is that I'm still very sorry about the baby."

"And Jor-El tricked you. If you hadn't done what you did...he might have tried controlling you before we even had the option of Black Kryptonite. We don't know. It's easy to look back and think you can do better but what if it had gone even worse?"

"It couldn't have."

"There are a million ways it could have gone worse, sweetheart. You could have gotten hurt or brainwashed or Chloe could have been still on the farm. You don't know."

"But I cost you what you wanted."

"Honey-"

"I know what you're missing. The universe is having this big field day on me, you know?" He started and his right leg twitched with the urge to pace, but that was too much for him. "I can take it. I mean everything that's happened is humiliating. I can't lie about that. It's not even the superficial stuff-and I think basically having a sex change without the surgery-"

"Clark-"

"...sucks," he finished. "It's the exams and I think having the Manhunter doing it is even worse because he knew me before and we had a simple relationship. Okay, we totally didn't. But he showed up, was mostly cryptic about danger and then we hunted stuff down. See, not too complicated. Now he's prodding at things that should not need prodding and technically shouldn't be there!"

His mother sipped her coffee. "It's not good to get worked up, sweetie."

He panted a little. "I know. I don't mean to get worked up."

She smiled kindly and patted his arm. "Of course, baby. This must be very hard for you."

"You think?"

"Clark Kent, you're not too old for me to wash your mouth out with soap."

"I like soap," he said grinning impishly at her.

That was true. His mom had given up on that tried and true parenting method when he'd started eating the nice, perfumed, 'just-for-company' soaps back when he was three.

"Then don't be rude."

"Sorry mom. It's just that was a pretty obvious statement," he said, patting his stomach.

"I meant the hormone part of it."

He slunk down in his chair, well, as well as he could slink. "Mom!"

"No, I'm serious. You're always so shut off, baby. You keep everything clamped down all the time and it's not good for you, like back two years ago after the wedding or even with how you were really feeling after Chloe started dating Jimmy."

"I have to keep my emotions in check," he replied. "If I don't now, well Kon gets upset and things shatter, but even before, if I get upset...I don't want to hurt anybody."

His mom nodded. "And we tried to train you so hard not to get upset and not to hurt anyone that we might have gone too far the other way. You need to be honest with people about how you feel, baby."

"I am."

"You have been."

"Huh?"

"You've been a lot more honest about things than you have in years-with Lana in the penthouse, with me and Lionel at the shower, with Chloe. I know you don't want to be feeling things so intensely, that it's an adjustment, but I think it might be good for you."

"Really?" He asked, snorting. "Yesterday, I cried over a long distance phone commercial. I think I'm a mess."

"But you're telling people how you feel. You're right. You can't let your guard down ever like another person could, although Kara's as hot-tempered as they come."

"Tell me about it."

She grinned. "Aren't Kryptonian teenagers fun?"

"I owe you like a yacht or something."

"Diamonds are a fantastic Mother's Day gift," she reminded him.

"You don't say."

"Oh, Hallmark is pushing them this May."

He paused at that and bit his lower lip. "Am I getting a card for that?"

"In June, baby. We all know that you're not Kon's mother."

"I...that's a different debate."

"It is," she replied, frowning. "My point is that because of who you are, just like Kon and Kara and even Jax when he comes into his power, you can't be as emotional as we are, but you can be more honest."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied.

"Clark-"

"I'll try, mom. I promise."

"Good," she said, drinking her tea. "Clark, you were ranting?"

"Saying, mom, there's a difference."

"I see."

"I...it's just that the worst part of this whole thing is that I shouldn't be doing this."

"I thought you'd gotten past that part. Kon will be born before you accept the whole situation."

He sighed and shook his head, "No, I'm not in denial about Kon. It's just that I wish...it's not fair that you can't do this, too. I'm sorry."

His mom's eyes widened and she reached out to stroke his arm. "You didn't do it."

"Once I-"

"You didn't. It just wasn't something I was destined for. I have you and Kara and Connor. I don't mind it."

He smiled sadly and cradled his belly. "But you won't ever."

"But you are and I'm very proud of you."

"You are?" he asked. "I'm confused. I thought dad would kill me."

"Your father would have and with good reason. I'm not proud of what you did or the example you set for Kara. Don't think I don't know what she was doing with sleepovers in Metropolis."

He laughed. "I noticed there haven't been any since you moved home."

"There won't be. I expected more of both of you than that."

He frowned and his voice wavered a little. Even normal, he'd never been very strong against his mother's disapproval. Even above his dad, her blessing meant everything. "But you just said you were proud of me. I'm so confused."

"I'm proud of how you've handled what happened. I'm proud of how you handled everything with Lana and the maturity you showed by not marrying her."

"Uh, you told me not to."

"And you listened. You have a funny track record with taking my advice."

"I...it wasn't right."

"I know and you stood up for your health and Connor's no matter what she wanted."

"With the Blue K," he growled. "It wasn't hard."

"And you acquitted yourself beautifully at the shower. I know some of the boys said things they shouldn't."

He shrugged. "Not really. Bart's not mean. He's just like Lois and Kara-the filter from his brain to his mouth is broken, and Ollie was kind of in shock. I'm kind of used to it."

"Still, you're doing so well with something you didn't ask for."

"I love-"

"I'm not talking about Kon. I'm talking about how he's getting here."

Clark sighed and tapped a finger against his cup. "I always have to put up with abilities I didn't ask for. This is just a new one."

"And with everything J'onn keeps saying and what we've found out so far...you're being so brave."

"Is this a pep talk?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm telling you how impressed I am. I...do you remember when Whitney signed up for the army?"

"Before or after Chloe got kidnapped and there was a tornado?"

"Before the tornado."

He frowned, "Is this a trick question? I remember everything."

"Humor your old mom."

"You're not."

"You know what I mean."

"Well you shouldn't say things like that. I think you're still a pretty as the picture I have in the den that I showed to Kara when she first came here."

"Thanks, sweetie. Now, stop hesitating."

"I...I said that he was braver than I was because he could die if he went. It's really easy to fight meteor mutants when they can't really hurt me. Even if I went to war, I couldn't get shot or stabbed."

"Exactly."

"Now I'm very lost. I'm not in the army but Lois could hook me up if I wanted."

"No dear. I just...you're sick, but you're doing everything you can to keep you and Connor safe and healthy. You could just curl up on the sofa and never come out or give up, but you haven't."

"I don't have a choice. I have to save him."

"I know, and I'm not trying to scare you. If the other Kryptonians, even some of them, can survive this, I know that you can."

"But," he asked, gulping a little.

"But you are sick and every day something changes a little more and you're braver than your father or I ever thought you could be. I'm very proud of you for that."

He looked up at her and felt his shoulders start to shake. "But I'm scared all the time mom. It's all I think about. It's like this clock in my head ticking down until I don't know when, not even until I go into labor and that's the new weirdest sentence I've ever said out loud. I think I'm counting down until I start bleeding and I can't stop and it keeps me up nights, mom. I don't want to die."

"Shh, god, sweetheart," she said, standing up and crossing around the table to sweep him up as best she could into her arms. One arm was wrapped around his shoulders as he cried on her shoulder and the other, to his surprise, was rubbing the expanse of his stomach. "Shh, I'm not going to let that happen. Me , not J'onn or Kara or whatever Dr. Willowbrook knows. Me, and I've taken care of you since you were three. I promised, Clark, and nothing's going to happen to you. I won't allow it."

He picked his head up and sniffled. "Because you said so?"

"Exactly." She smiled, "Clark, does Kara listen to me?"

"Yup, it's like a miracle. Can you give me tips?"

"It's my superpower."

"Not fair. She never listens to anything I have to say."

"Do you listen to me?"

"Most of the time...I mean, yes, mom."

She smiled, "So, if the two most powerful beings on the planet listen to me. You think fate wouldn't?"

He laughed, despite himself. His mom could be pretty scary. He wouldn't want to be St. Peter or the Angel of Destiny or fill-in-your-deity here trying to explain to his mom about what was supposed to happen to him. She'd never hear of it. And then probably burn the whole cosmic ledger just to make her point. "No, mom, I guess not."

"Then problem settled. You're going to be fine, but I just wanted you to know that every day, I'm even more amazed and proud of you than the day before."

"I...thanks, mom," he said, sniffling.

"Anytime, sweetheart," she said rubbing his belly and then smiling when Kon kicked. "He's so strong."

"Yeah, he is," Clark replied sadly. "He's just like his dad."

"Then he's very lucky," she said, leaning over and giving him a peck on his stomach.

"Right," he said noncommittally, finishing off the last piece of burned toast (purposely, he preferred it that way) that his mom had lain out for him.

His mom sighed and stood up, her hand still over Kon. "Baby, can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Will you still think about Lionel's trust fund offer."

Clark shivered and, for the first time in three weeks, it had nothing to do with the Kansas winter. "It's Lionel, mom."

"And he's defended your secret."

"And he's also done a lot of bad things and it's Luthor money. Dad would never have-"

"It's different now," she said. " He's different. I thought you were okay with us."

He flinched. "I'm trying to be okay with it. I know he can do good and I know that J'onn trusts him but there's so much there and I can't take his money. Please don't ask me to do it again."

"It's a good investment for your son."

"Something like that always comes with a price."

"Clark, baby, just don't do anything rash. The fund will be there a year from now or fifteen. He wouldn't get rid of it."

"Then it's all planned out?"

"No, but it's an option and he wants to help. Clark, your father was a good man."

"The best."

"But he had his faults and stubbornness was the worst one. He was so inflexible sometimes. Do you really want to be that way too?"

"Of cour-" he was about to answer, but then he stopped. His father's stubbornness had been the reason he'd turned his back on him once, had left him alone in a hospital corridor separated from his family.

It had hurt so deeply.

He didn't want to be like that. Hadn't he just promised Connor that he wouldn't?

Sighing, he patted his mother's hand. "I'll think about it, mom. Alright, but I'll need a few months, okay?"

"Fine, sweetheart, just never dismiss something right away. You, of all people, shouldn't be narrow minded."

He snorted as his mother collected his plate and headed to the sink, "Yeah, it would be kind of sad if the pregnant male space alien was judgmental."

"Clark, I don't like that word."

"Pregnant?" He asked, struggling up and sighing at how difficult it was all getting. "You forgot about the cup of gross powder."

His mom took his cup and ran it under the faucet. "Nice try. You know which word I meant."

"The a-word?"

"Exactly," she replied, ruffling his curls with one damp hand. "You really need to-"

"I know watch what I start saying around Kon," he sighed again and started rinsing his plate beside her. "You know that in any other family it's an entirely different a-word that's off limits, right?"

"We're not any other family."

Clark looked down at his ever-growing belly, "That's for damn sure."

"Clark!"


	30. Chapter 30

30

32 Weeks

Bending over to reach Chloe's neck was not the easiest thing to do anymore, but Clark managed. Leaning in awkwardly, he brushed a trail of kisses down her neck and grinned when she shivered. "I thought we were having a date."

"It is a date," she defended. "Look there was dinner and everything, but why did we have chicken nuggets and spaghetti?"

He chuckled and tugged gently at her shoulders. "Can I at leas get you over to the couch, and I'll share?"

"I just wanted to look over a few more of Dax-Ur's notes."

"Chlo," he said, forcing his voice to do that whole husky thing he was hoping would weaken her resistance. "We've been looking at his work for three weeks. We've been inside and out on everything. I learned a lot about Krypton and things about what finally happened that I doubt the state-you know if it still existed-would have on record, but there isn't anything there about me and Kon."

"Nothing useful, but just one more time."

He sighed and physically pulled her out of her chair and up into his arms. "I never should have taught you basic Kryptonian."

"I get sick of having to use the dictionary, and it wasn't much. I just go over those things looking for 'infant' or 'Kryptonite' and that's when you step in a read the rest." She frowned and slapped him on the shoulder. "You shouldn't have lifted me."

"I'm still not an invalid. I'm a lot stronger than Jimmy."

"Not a contest."

"Or Ollie or any human guy. I'm just not up to my standards, you know?"

"But lifting is really, really bad in the eighth month. What if you dropped Kon right here?" she groused as he set her back down on the sofa. It was then that Clark realized she still at the pasteboard box she'd been moving in her grip.

Groaning, he set the box down on the coffee table. "No more research. Date night, remember?"

Chloe sighed, "Isn't that like a failed concept. I'm here every night and it almost always ends the same way."

He blushed. He was really easy like this. Of course, he wasn't sure how much of that was because he was still hormone-loaded and how much of that was a part of just being a twenty-one year old guy. "Okay, so you can't stay away from Kon."

"He's a great enticement. Seriously, you know nothing attracts a girl more than a loving father. We melt for guys who are great with little kids."

"Kon's not big enough to count as a 'little kid' yet?" Clark replied, settling himself down on the sofa and sighing when the springs creaked. He was pretty sure that Chloe's weigh, which was pretty negligible, and that 270 pounds of Kryptonian wouldn't break it. If it did, he'd just have Bart buy him a new one. Bart was way easier than going to Ollie and it was all the same credit card anyway.

"It's very attractive."

"You're bent."

"This is Smallville," she replied. "I'm a meteor mutant and my boyfriend's an alien-"

"An eight months' pregnant alien."

"And that's the point of the conversation. You're a very attractive pregnant traveler ."

"Well, you keep saying it enough."

Chloe grinned and kissed him and, God the things that woman did with her tongue. "It's the truth. You know it has to be or I wouldn't believe in it."

He blushed and pulled her into a half hug, side by side on the sofa. "I know. I appreciate that you think that."

"I know it," she replied. "There's a complete difference."

"So I've heard," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "So, okay, even though today is Saturday and it is official date night. You've been over here every night for a month and we've been making out a lot."

"There are holes in the ceiling on this floor and the second one."

His blush deepened as he glanced up at the peeling plaster above them. "Okay, well, yeah, that's true. I thought you were gun shy?"

"About some things," she replied, sighing. "I don't feel like I've earned the title you want to give me and it's not about who Kon's biologically related to or about us. Us is good."

"Grammar, Lady Editor."

"Colloquialism," she corrected. "I'm in serious like with you."

"Is this eighth grade again?"

She snorted and kissed him. "I think I'd have figured out the big secret a lot faster if you'd looked like this the first day of school."

"Oh God, don't even. It's just there are other l-words."

"I do love you and Kon. I didn't think I could love anyone as much as I think I do him and he's not even here yet."

"Tell me about it."

"But I've always loved you. You're my best friend."

"I hate it when you say that. Is that revenge for the last nine years?" He huffed, pushing her away a little.

"Wow, Kara's so right. You went from rational to bitch in about four seconds. I think that's a record for an El and Kara's had some fantastic snits."

He glared at her, "I'm sorry it took me so long to figure everything out."

"And if I could wait nine years, Clark, it's only fair you can wait for a few more months. I'm not going anywhere."

"I might be," he said and he slammed his mouth shut after it came out. He hadn't mean to even think it.

"What?"

"I might be going somewhere," he said. "Wherever Kryptonians go after. There's a place, don't you think? There should be. Kara said we had a whole pantheon of gods like in Greece but our favorite was the sun-god Rao. I think that makes a lot of sense, considering where my strength used to come from."

"Clark, don't-"

"I have to. If I didn't say it...J'onn says I could go into labor at any time. It's supposed to be nine months, but people deliver early all the time and the human part of Kon makes everything so uncertain. I have to get these things off my chest, you know."

"But it's morbid."

"And your Chlo."

"Excuse me?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Is that like being Wednesday Addams all of a sudden?"

"No, it's just that you're the opposite of my dad."

"I should hope so. Our gender bent life aside, I'd like to be a girl."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What I mean was that he was always about platitudes. He was trying and I loved him for it, for almost everything he did, really. I mean, I get it. Fate and Jor-El landed a baby al-"

"No using that word. Come on. It only feeds unfair stereotypes of world conquest."

"And Reese's Pieces obsession, but those would be awesome right now with just a little bit of Tabasco maybe."

She snorted. "I am never being pregnant. The cravings are so weird."

"Uh, actually that sweet and spicy thing is all just an alien quirk. Ask Jimmy. I'm sure Kara asked for some along with her chocolates at Valentine's Day."

"That's so you two," she said and that same steady admiration and acceptance was in her tone. Man, he had been so dumb for so long and now...

"Anyway, he had a son no one could be ready to raise. I mean, at 14 when a guy tells his dad he has weird dreams..."

"I can see where you're going with that."

"Exactly, but with me it meant I was flying two feet above my bed. How do you answer questions about things that shouldn't be possible?"

"I don't know."

"He didn't really either and we both knew it, but he tried to with the same homespun wisdom that my grandfather taught him. So, platitudes. They weren't wrong and some of them are good advice, even if you are a traveler, but I don't need to hear them all the time. You're Chloe and you don't sugarcoat anything so don't start now."

"Clark-"

"No," he replied. "I know J'onn's in China right now digging up the records to go with what he found in Egypt last Monday, but we know most of the stories. The odds suck, Chlo."

"50-50 are good odds."

He quirked his head at her. "Would you play Russian Rullet with three bullets out of six in the chamber."

"Okay, not the best odds, but they're not terminal."

"I know, but they could be and you're smart enough to know it and know that I know it too."

"I got lost in all that meta."

"I have a few things I need to say, that I'd like to hear and I don't want the end of the week or the four weeks or whatever to come and have them never happen. Okay?"

"I know and I want too, but I can't make things change, Clark. I can't be sure."

"Nothing's sure. That's how life works. Eight months ago, I thought I was a guy."

You are . It's not like the egg was yours."

"But you know what I mean. Eight months ago, I didn't think this was possible and now here we are. If you're waiting for some magical guarantee that you'll commit or say the words out loud and not get hurt, then it won't happen."

"I just need time...I can't."

"Because of me? Because I spent so long kicking you in the teeth back in high school and even last year?"

"Yes. I just can't put myself back together again the way I am. I don't know...I just need more time to either trust you or brace myself."

He reached back out again and stroked her hair. "I'm not going to leave by choice."

"Rationally I know that, but I can't trust it yet. I'm sorry. I like my boyfriend and I love you as a best friend and I'm anxious to be the best Aunt Chloe ever, but it's all I have to give right now. There might be more but I can't yet."

He sighed and pulled her back to him, smiling a little at the way she fit around his girth. "I know. I'm being needy."

"No, you're not. You're being honest and I'm emotionally stunted."

"You've had some bad experiences. Not just me, I know. Jimmy jumping to Kara didn't help."

"I'm over it."

"I know but there were all the stalker types in high school."

"It's not Smallville until you have one or four," she replied. "What did you mean?"

"Huh?"

"I know that you're worried about what's going to happen with Kon. We all are and we're trying so hard to make sure that doesn't happen."

"I know that, believe me. If anything happens, I know you guys tried and that matters a lot to me."

"And when you're sitting on this sofa in six months nursing-"

"Oh god no."

"Okay, bottle feeding your son, I'll still be teasing you about your flare for the melodramatic."

"Fair enough," he replied with a chipperness he didn't feel. "What don't you get?"

"The comment you made about the what-if," she said and even with her stellar resolve, Chloe's voice wavered. "You think it just stops?"

"I don't think they let travelers into Heaven, Chlo," he replied bitterly. "I don't even know if I have a soul."

"Clark, that's just stupid."

"I'm serious."

"I know. I meant that that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You and Kara are two of the most selfless and kind people I know. If you can't get in at the Pearly Gates, no one could."

"And they might have a no a-word-"

She snickered, "Really?"

"Mom makes me. I'm supposed to be breaking habits for Kon."

"Interesting."

"Anyway, they might have a no aliens policy. It's funny. When Lex caught me at the Planet, we started sniping like we always do and I said that to him."

"That you're a traveler?"

"No," he replied, sighing. "I said that I had a soul and then he looked right at me and asked if I was sure about that and I'm really not."

Chloe cursed under her breath and then quickly patted his stomach and apologized to Kon. "He suspects almost all of it, doesn't he?"

"Hasn't he always? The records are fried. The staff doesn't even remember my name, and Lana's being babysat all month by Dinah. After meeting her, the Black Canary wanted the personal honor."

Chloe laughed despite the tension. "I almost feel sorry for Lana. Dinah's a bitch and she's tougher than Lois. No, Lana won't be squealing with Dinah monitoring her."

"So, no. He can't prove thing one. It's just he's always wondered about me and, until he said it, I don't think I'd ever thought about it quite that way. Who knows what would happen to Kon or me when-"

"If all your worries actually came true and they're just worries, Clark. You're as likely to pull through as you're not. It's something and we'll find an answer. We still have time. Also, you're still a moron."

"You're not a very supportive girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes, "Every freak out you've had for the last six months, I've been on top of. I'm the uber-supportive. I just don't stand for your crap either. You have a soul."

"But you don't know."

"The Hell I don't. I'm Catholic and we totally have that inside track, you know? Penguins with rulers and a confessional box and all that. You and Connor and Kara and Jax are just like us in all the ways that really matter so stop making stuff up to worry about, and start-"

"What?"

"Answering my questions. Why the chicken nuggets a spaghetti?"

He sighed and placed his hand over the small one resting on his stomach. "Mom's in D.C. She didn't want to be today, but she had a meeting she couldn't miss, even with 'Lana's' illness. She was going to help me cook and then I was going to do it, but I sort of passed out napping."

"Oh,"

"Yeah, so Kara came in and saw the whole thing and called Jimmy over. He can make spaghetti and she just really likes chicken nuggets."

"She knows they're not romantic, right?"

"She said they were good. Jimmy apparently tried that romance thing for their official one year and she decided the snails and stuff at the French place sucked. Next year, she's insisting on McDonald's."

Chloe giggled and it was so ridiculous that he broke out laughing too. "Oh man. No offense to that great Kryptonian race or whatever but between the plaid-love and the questionable culinary taste and all of it, I don't think you guys were all that impressive."

"Human women are behind. Flannel is going to catch on. Trust me."

"I try," she replied, leaning up to kiss him and he shifted as best he could to give her open access to him. They'd figured this out more or less over the month. It was still awkward and he always felt like he was simultaneously pushing her away and holding her close at the same time.

Chloe's hands were running over his back and he was just vulnerable enough to enjoy the way her nails scratched against him through his button-down. Her mouth was at his throat, mirroring the kisses he tried to tempt her with earlier and it spurned Clark on more. Leaning forward, he coaxed Chloe into laying down for him, and started to kiss the sides of her face. He was struggling to even stay on the sofa and one long leg shot out, knocking the box to the floor.

"Clark!" Chloe said, sitting up. "Be careful with that. I had it organized."

He pouted back on his end of the sofa. "It'll keep. We were getting somewhere."

She smirked, "You were rounding some bases there. I know you."

"I'm so stifled," he replied glancing at the mess on the floor and then he frowned. "Chlo, the box broke."

"No duh, oh fearsome traveler, you kicked it."

"No, you don't understand. Here," he said starting to get to his knees and cursing when he realized how that was not an activity he could do anymore. "Can you gather it up for me. I promise, I'll be all equal opportunity trash picking up when I'm not a beach ball."

"It's fine, Clark," she reassured him, gathering up the papers and frowning at the small lead box, one engraved with Kryptonian sigils, that she found in the mess. "I've been pouring over that box for weeks and I never found this."

"There must have been a compartment for it that I broke."

"What do you think it is?" She asked, handing it back to him.

He held the box up and scanned over the symbols. "It's for Jax," he replied awkwardly. "The encryption? It's close to a 'break glass in case of' warning."

Chloe snorted. "You are so farmboy."

"Right," he replied patting Kon. "Very boy next door. Anyway, it's an emergency box but it's for him. It's not really mine."

"Technically none of the records are."

"But what if it's personal if someone else read something that my dad left for me-"

" This is an emergency," she said, pointing at his stomach. "Are you sweating?"

"What? No, I don't do that."

"You are."

"No, that's nuts. I never sweat, except around Kryptonite," he replied, frowning when he ran a hand over his forehead and found it sopping. "What?"

"Well we were getting pretty worked up," she added, her voice tight. "Clark, are you feeling okay?"

He swallowed down his panic at the loaded question. Clearly he wasn't. "I was just really tired today. I didn't think it meant anything. Really, I only sleep about ten hours a night. I know it's more than a normal human, but not by much so I wasn't too worried. It's just another thing, isn't it?"

"Clark, now I'm going to have to remind you not to be so glib. You're not dying but it's serious. This is as big an emergency as they come, so open the damn box or I'll call for Kara."

"Fine," he groused, still unnerved by having actually sweated for the first time. Crushing the padlock on the box with some effort, he pulled out the lone paper inside and the one faded picture. What the?"

"What is it?"

Clark handed her the picture, which was similar to the one they'd found in the time capsule but, instead of one SOS symbol and a much younger Dax-Ur in the background. There was a second medallion and a very pale man, leaning on the late Kryptonian. "There were two of them."

"What?"

"This letter. He prepared it for whoever found him. It's not directly addressed to Jax. It's...look at it. The paper's linen and it's aged. I don't think it should even be out in the open air that long. It must be a hundred and fifty years old."

"It matches the mining photo here," she said. "You guys live longer. It makes some sense if Dax-Ur was here for a long time before he finally found the one to settle down with."

He sighed, "As much as anything else. I mean, Brainiac had to have been around for a while for the Council to have trusted it with monitoring everything on the planet."

"If only you'd had an Arthur C. Clarke."

"If only," he said sadly, thinking of his birth mother. "According to this Dax-Ur and his student both knew what Brainiac had the potential to do and they fled here to clean their conscience with studying Kryptonite."

"Makes perfect sense," Chloe growled.

"Not now, Chlo. They came here, used the portal still opened in the Kawatchee caves that Kara and Lara used too, and they found a sample hidden here that one of the earlier visitors must have left."

"Sample?"

He nodded, "The gold kind. Tulak, that's the other guy-I guess graduate student is the best analogy-who came with Dax-Ur. He found it, but he made a huge mistake."

"I don't understand."

Clark skimmed the yellowed paper one more time to make sure that he had the story right. "He knew it was meteor rock just by looking at it but he didn't get sick like with the Green K and there wasn't any rush like with the Blue or Red and he didn't feel like he was being pulled apart."

"Literally."

"Exactly. I guess he assumed it was inert or something. So he touched it."

"Oh God."

He nodded, "It took his abilities, Chlo."

"Like with the Blue?"

"No, I mean it took his powers completely. Everything he had and no matter what he and Dax-Ur did, he couldn't get them back. He was made human, but there was a price."

"Loss of phenomenal cosmic strength?"

"I wish you wouldn't say it like that. It goes to Kara's head and I'm still just a guy."

"I'm sorry. You know I don't see your powers first."

"I know," he replied, his fingers tensing around the letter. "But after everything with the Phantom...I just don't like thinking sometimes about what my powers could do for people in a selfish way."

"I know and that's why you've earned them."

"It goes both ways," he replied, offering her a small smile. She smiled back but said nothing and he continued, "But that's not the worst of it. With the loss of all of his powers-and it's different than the Blue. That mutes everything. The Gold changed him at a genetic level.-he lost his immunity to human diseases."

Chloe paled. "He was visiting here." She held up the picture and pointed to the man collasping against Dax-Ur's side. "He got sick, didn't he?"

"Exactly. It's like Dr. Willowbrook said with smallpox and his tribe but in reverse. Tulak wasn't prepared for disease. He got consumption and he died."

"And then Dax-Ur what? Kept it as a memento?"

"No, he buried most of it some place even the letter won't say, but he kept one sample, enough to study, but he never touched it. He had to have been married to Mary for at least a decade and he still didn't commit enough to make himself actually human."

"Maybe he was still worried about disease. Different planet, exposed to all the elements. It's not like in the intervening century he'd ever fought off a cold before."

"Sounds like," he said, pulling out one small piece of crisp white paper. It was new. "This is for Jax, though. I-"

"Read it."

" My son, if you are able to read this now, then you have sought out the cave of the Kawatchee in Smallville or, perhaps, Kal-El has gotten to you and ruined everything. "

"Jesus, he wrote that right before he died."

"Makes sense," Clark replied, shrugging. "The whole life he had worked because none of the other Kryptonians knew he was here. He ditched the SOS so no one could find him. He hid here and waited out the destruction of everybody else. But then I showed up and all the questions came up. You saw Mary. She must have started hounding him in those few hours before Brainiac showed up."

"Moron," she spat. "He did all of it to himself and he put that poor little boy in the middle of it."

"I know, but Kon's in the middle of everything to. I wasn't thinking and he's going to be born into a world where Lex is too close to uncovering everything and where Brainiac is still loose. He's going to be almost as isolated as I was, as big a fr-"

"If you finish that word, I will slug you," Chloe threatened.

"I'm saying that I'm as selfish as Dax-Ur was. Being what we are-"

" Who. "

"What we are is too much for a little kid. It's probably why Dax-Ur fashioned the Blue K necklace in the first place."

"It's different, Clark. It's very different," Chloe replied, setting down the picture and placing a hand on his cheek. You didn't know you could have Kon, not like this. You didn't set out to have a son and you didn't lie to his mother about who you are and the gifts he was going to inherit. You deserve to have a family like any of us. You know Kara will try one day."

"Not if Jimmy's a eunuch."

"She'll try, and it's what Lara and Jor-El-as big a jerk as he may or may not be-wanted. They sent you here for that chance at as normal a life as possible."

"That backfired."

"No, it's just a different way to get it. You didn't lie, not when it mattered. He did and now that little boy is going to suffer for it."

"Not if I can help it," he replied, picking back up the note and starting over, " My son, if you are able to read this now, then you have sought out the caves in Smallville or, perhaps, Kal-El has gotten to you and ruined everything. I tried to protect you from this for as long as I could, from who we truly are, but I can't no longer.

Perhaps, like me, you don't want to be alone in a world of beings so different from you. I cannot blame you for that. I could not make you human. I still cannot completely change your DNA, but I can offer you the choice I saved for you. If you touch my sample of gold Kryptonite, you will be indistinguishable from all those around you. You will be human. I cannot take all of your gifts. Your perception and your memory, your intelligence will never change, but I can make you close enough to be safe. No doctor would ever suspect you. The woman you choose to spend your life with will not look on you with suspicious like your mother has done with me.

You will be normal.

Perhaps I should have done it for you from birth instead of using the blue Kryptonite instead, but it is your choice to make. It is the last gift and the first real one I leave to you, Jackson.

And remember that no matter what I told you, no matter how many lies I spun to keep you safe, that I loved you. "

"That's it?"

Clark nodded, "I don't know what the Gold K would do to me. There's not consumption anymore, you know? But I still could get sick. Kara too. It would be terrible for either of us to touch it, but for Connor or Jackson..."

"They're half-human already."

"It's a cure," Clark replied. "It's a cure for being Kryptonian."

"But it's not a real one. You can't cure who you are. I tried that," Chloe replied. "Besides, the things that are the most obvious about Jax would still be there. He'd still be a prodigy. If Kara and J'onn are right and he's like Kon. He'd still be a telekinetic."

"But he'd be no different than most of the metas we know. He wouldn't be like me."

"Not a bad thing."

"I know," Clark said, folding the papers and the photo back up carefully and shutting them up in the box and away from the air. "I do, and I'd never...Chlo, we can't tell anybody."

"What?" She asked, blinking as he set the box back on the table. "Your mom or J'onn would never-"

He shook his head. "I didn't mean that. Lex has something insanely valuable. He can use it against me or Kara if he ever knew. He could use it against my son and then he'd be defenseless."

She smiled. "I've seen Kon do a number on Ollie's apartment. He'd never be defenseless."

"But you know that Lex can never know. The only people who ever knew what the Gold could do were Dax-Ur and Tulak and now us. I trust my mother and even Lionel in this. Jor-El would never let him, but people can slip and they can be tortured."

Chloe's eyes glittered with recognition. "You can't admit what you don't know."

"Like with Dax-Ur's wife. It's better if it's just us, alright?"

"Agreed," she sighed and leaned back against him, stroking at his stomach. "This was the least romantic date ever."

"You were the one who had to research," he said glumly.

"But we know what Lex has and he doesn't."

"He wouldn't have it if he weren't planning on using it sometime and except for the Green K all the other colors are useless unless you have a Kryptonian you use them against."

"He doesn't know. It's a guessing game and he's still losing."

"That could change."

"With the Manhunter? With the League behind you? No, it won't." She forced a bright smile. "At least we know something that we didn't know before."

"But it's not the answer."

"No, it's not."


	31. Chapter 31

31

32 Weeks, Two Days

"You should totally take the money, Kal," Kara said as she turned their truck down the winding dirt road that led to the reservation.

Clark narrowed his eyes at his cousin. "That's really between me and mom, isn't it?"

"And Lionel, and it's a lot of money. It's a good idea."

Clark sighed and reminded himself not to flash fry his cousin even if he was tempted. "Mom's giving me a few months to decide and I'm taking them. I just need some time to think it all over, Kara. Can you respect that?"

"Not so much," she chirped, turning to look at Chloe. "You're smart, even by Kryptonian standards."

"Thanks," Chloe drawled but the sarcasm went over the other girl's head. "Kara, just drop it, okay? There are so many other things to focus on besides some money."

"Money's important. It's the root of all happiness. TV said so."

"TV's not always right," Clark pointed out.

"So you can't find love on Earth by wrestling in vats of spaghetti?"

"No more MTV for you, Kara. You acculturation really sucks," he replied, sighing when a now familiar sensation hit him. "Pull over."

"Are you kidding? We have like two miles left to go."

"Okay, then, well you can go ahead and drive those two miles and you can do it in a puddle."

"As the person in the middle of the bench seat, I'm not doing it," Chloe huffed stepping hard down on the brake. "Clark, hop on out."

"Qualified term," he grumbled as he eased himself down onto the runner and then the grass, hurrying as quickly as he could to a copse of trees beside the truck. By this point, Kon had gotten big enough to press on his bladder (or the closest Kryptonian equivalent). The frequent bathroom trips were just another in a fun round of both very human and only him side effects that came with the pregnancy. After a bit, Clark steadied himself and returned to the car. It took a while for him to pull himself back into the cab and next time they were totally taking his mom's station wagon.

He tried to ignore the way it dipped when he got in. His ego had taken so many beatings in the last few weeks that he refused to start worrying about the weight thing again.

"Man, Kal," Kara replied as she pulled back onto the road. "I love cute babies and I can't wait for Kon."

"Thank you for your overwhelming concern for me."

"Whatever. The point is that I'm excited by the whole thing, but the other stuff pretty much sucks. I mean, there's the part where you're kind of fat."

"Kara!"

"And then you pee every five minutes and you're all sleepy and boring now and you have like three powers left."

"Kara!" Chloe hissed, "Stop that."

"What? It's true. The pregnancy thing is a complete fun-suck."

"You know, no one's asking you to get pregnant either, Kara. In fact, I was hoping this would be an object lesson and you won't get pregnant any time in the next century. Also," he replied. "You miscounted. I have four powers left and my strength. Don't think I couldn't fry you if I wanted. Bitch."

"Cow."

"Jeez, that's a lot of sniping in one car," Chloe said. "Kara, what's with the attitude?"

"He's not taking the trust fund, I can tell and that sucks. Uncle Lionel-"

"Oh you did not just call him that."

"Has been really great for Aunt Martha. She's much happier in the last year since they started going out."

"Wait," Clark said, finally processing what she said. "You knew?"

"Oh Rao yes. Aunt Martha let something slip on one of the calls she made to check up on Kon. She's very happy and Lionel's really good to her and money."

"Don't be crass," he replied in Kryptonian, hoping that would knock some sense into her.

"I'm not being crass," she clarified in English, "But you're being a moron. You're superficially polite about everything, but still it causes tension and that makes Aunt Martha feel sad."

Clark sighed, "Mom and I talked about it and I'm thinking things through. That's that."

"You just want Kon to be poor."

"I do not and we're not poor. You know how much mom makes and the farm is actually solvent and no eighteen year old needs control of enough money to own a small country."

"Agreed, look what that did to Lex," Chloe added. "It's a debate for another time. Don't hold that over Clark and tone down the outer bitch by about five notches, okay?"

"Fine," Kara replied, pulling into park in the reservation a few yards up from Dr. Willowbrook's home. "But you're still being a total stick in the dirt, Kal."

"I am not!" he shouted, wincing when the stupid windshield cracked.

Chloe whistled. "I guess Kon's still as healthy as ever."

Clark sighed and pulled his thick and roomy winter coat over him, making sure to cover his stomach as best as he could. "Yeah, he's fine." Slipping out of the truck, he was surprised and overwhelmed by the crowd milling around. Usually, a trip to the professor was very quiet. He occasionally bumped into one or two other tribe members on his way to the cabin, but this was weird, like being heralded or something.

Kara stepped out and they clapped.

"Oh, that's not good," Chloe said.

Clark nodded, "I miss the visit three days ago because of, um-"

"Check-up."

"Yeah, that, and now they're treating Kara like a supermodel. This is so bad." He'd no sooner finished his sentence than three or four of the older women in the tribe moved forward to touch his stomach and chattering animatedly in Kawatchee.

They knew .

Clark gulped and tried stepping back. "Kara! What did you do?"

"Numan," Dr. Willowbrook said, surging through the parting crowd, which, now that Clark noticed it, seemed to be filled mostly with the elders of the tribe. "I'm so happy that you decided to make yourself known to the rest of the tribe."

"I what?"

One of the old women got too enthusiastic with her petting and started straying too far south. He backed up faster than he thought he could move anymore and Chloe slapped the woman's hand. "What the Hell is going on?" She hissed.

"Yeah, I'd like an answer," he said, glaring at his cousin, who was waving for the crowd and smiling brightly.

Dr. Willowbrook frowned. "I don't understand. Kara came to visit with me on Friday and told me that both of you wanted to reveal your true nature to the rest of the tribe."

"We did, did we?" Clark asked, turning to Kara who was busy excepting a woven necklace from the crowd. "When did we decide this?"

"I was going over the lessons with Dr. Willowbrook and I was thinking, you know, total 'gods among men' thing. I'm not one to take anything over, you know that, but what girl doesn't like some adoration?"

"You told the entire tribe who we are so you could get a fan club?" The headlights of the truck shattered and everyone in the crowd started clapping.

Oh that was so very fucked up.

Kara rolled her eyes and adjusted her new necklace and its heavy pendant on her chest. "You say that like it's a bad thing. What girl doesn't like a little praise now and then? Am I right Chloe?"

"Oh, leave me out of this."

"Why?" The oldest-at least Clark assumed she was; she was more wizened than the others-of the women asked.

"Why what?"

"Leave you out of this," she continued, looking from Clark's belly to Chloe. "You're the mother."

"Oh, I'm-"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Clark asked, cutting her off before he had to hear that stubborn denial of Chlo's.

"We're family," the woman continued, as if it should be obvious on the face of it. "Our great tribe came from such a union and how could we not bless the woman who's accomplished this feat again. She must be as noble as the great mothers of our tribe."

"See and I'm not even doing the carrying," Chloe quipped, awkwardly shoving an offered necklace of her own into her coat pocket.

"But you are worthy of the Numan and that's quite an honor," said another woman, whose solemn tone was downplayed somehow by the Peanuts sweatshirt she wore.

"See, Chloe, like I said-total admiration. This is awesome, right?"

"No, flamebird, it is not," Dr. Willowbrook said and Clark had never heard him so angry, even at the protests. "Come with me all of you to my office." Clark nodded and, taking Chloe's hand, led her with him to the cabin. Behind him, he could hear Dr. Willowbrook uttering something terse in Kawatchee.

When they settled in the now familiar study, Clark groaned and gratefully accepted the cup of tea the professor handed him. "Thanks, this was a weird day, even for me."

"I love it. It's like being a rock star," Kara chirped, sipping her Coke.

Dr. Willowbrook shook his head as he sat down in his old recliner. "You lied to me, Kara."

"I didn't exactly. Kal makes all the decisions all the time and I wanted a turn. He was dragging about telling everyone else and I wanted to, so I said it was okay, and it is. They love us."

"The honor of my people is not a plaything."

"Well put, professor," Chloe replied squeezing his hand. "Kara, it was wrong. With everything that's going on, with how much trouble the pregnancy is and with Lex out there looking for a Kryptonian to go with his new Kryptonite collection, how could you tell more people?"

"No one knows our names, yeesh."

"And it's the 21st century and people have TVs and Clark and Lana and Martha have been on the TV for several months with all the news about 'Lana's' troubled pregnancy. Martha's not a big dog in the senate yet, but she's well known in Kansas. Clark's recognizable on sight now. It was stupid of you."

"Miss Sullivan, my people would never do anything against either of them ever. We respect our origins and our heritage far too much for that."

Chloe sighed, "I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I know that, but it's risky and this feels wrong. It's not a circus, quite, but this isn't us either."

"I can't do the adoration thing," Clark admitted and, blushing, added. "I love my son, please don't get confused when I say the next thing."

"I've observed what you feel, Numan. All of it," the professor added, glancing pointedly at the simple gold bracelet Chloe was wearing.

Clark shifted on the sofa. "Good then, but, really, I'm the furthest thing from a deity there is. I'm kind of just this guy who got knocked up."

"Clark!" Chloe shouted.

Kara just giggled. "Point, but it's still fun."

"It makes me feel uncomfortable," he admitted. "I respect you a great deal, professor, and I cared about your granddaughter. Your people have been good to me but I don't want to be worshipped or anything. I don't want Kon to grow up with that. That's just really going to confuse him. I don't think we'll be visiting the reservation for a while. Can we move the research to the farm, instead?"

"I think that would be best. Are you feeling alright, Numan?"

"People keep asking me that," he replied hesitantly. "Do I look alright?"

"You are more pale than I have ever seen you and you are sweating."

"Well it's winter and sweaters."

"Clark," Chloe prodded gently, reaching out across the professor's great oak end table to grab some tissues. Reaching up, she mopped his forehead with the same gentle touch his mother had and he got a thrill from imaging her doing it for their son. Even if Chloe hadn't agreed to it yet, he couldn't think about Kon in any other way but as theirs . "You took your coat off."

"Sweater. It's llama fur from the McMurtry's. If it's good enough for the Andes..."

"Numan, I do not have heat here. All the warmth that I receive comes from the fire place and I only started it this morning. Did you not notice Miss Sullivan's teeth chattering? She is a city girl, isn't she?"

"Naturally," Chloe replied, frowning. "Do you think your immunity to temperatures is coming back?"

"I...maybe. Maybe other things would too?" he asked hopefully. It was nice for the first time in a month not to feel the chill of a Kansas winter.

Chloe nodded, "Maybe or it could be something else."

"I know."

"Kal, you really do look pale. Maybe we should go home," Kara said and he noticed the quirk of her head.

"You're Listening, aren't you?"

She nodded, "Everything sounds the same. I was just worried." She set her head down in her hands and when she looked back up, he was surprised to find her eyes watering. "I'm sorry about telling everyone. It wasn't about being adored."

"It wasn't?" he asked, wryly.

"Well that was a big plus in the 'Pro' column, but that wasn't it. I thought it would make you feel better, make you happier. Lana made you so ashamed of everything and I thought it would do you good to see how many people thought what a miracle this all was," she sniffled a little and slipped into Kryptonian. "I am truly sorry, little cousins."

He smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand. "It wasn't smart what you did, but it was sweet. I don't feel so bad anymore, you know," he said also in Kryptonian as he wrapped his other arm tighter around Chloe.

Kara smiled, "I can see that."

"It's alright, big cousin," he said, blushing a little and turning back to Chloe and Professor Willowbrok. "I'm sorry about that. I...it was a family thing."

Chloe nodded in complete understanding. "I get it, but you weren't gossiping about me, were you?"

"No, I wasn't," he answered. "So now that I'm not getting parades in my honor, can we deal with the stuff on tap for today? I think it's time to try using the gift you gave me."

"Kal, memory discs are very powerful," Kara warned.

"I know. Jor-El left a record for me and I was having flashes for days, but I thought maybe if we went to the cave and then I touched the walls or the few artifacts Dr. Willowbrook has, then I could be able to do the whole thing at once. I can't do it over a couple of days because I can't afford to just space out in my condition," and he hated the stupid euphemism. "But this is important. J'onn should be back tonight from China with his end of the research. This could be what we need to uncover all there is to know about the other babies like Kon."

"Kal, really, those discs went out of style before I was even born. They're so primitive."

"Do you have a wealth of hidden information about Kryptonian-human infants you'd like to share, Kara?"

"No, of course not."

"Then, Clark has a point," Chloe said, frowning. "I can't say that I like it either, but it's worth a shot. We want this to work," she said, pressing her hand flat against his stomach. Clark smiled when he felt Kon flutter against her. Even if Chloe wasn't sure who she was, Kon was.

Dr. Willowbrook smiled and rose, "Miss Sullivan, it is refreshing to see a young woman who values knowledge so deeply. You are very worthy of Numan."

"Just Clark," he replied, standing. "Um guys, can we wait five minutes before going to the caves?"

"Bathroom break?" Kara asked, smirking.

"Wait until you have to do this. It's not funny," he groused, half-heartedly waddling to the door at the end of the far hall. "You know, Kon," he said. "It's a good thing I love you so much because you are killing me here, buddy."


	32. Chapter 32

32

Clark was standing in front of the stone like altar that his ancestors had left for him and now for his son. "Surprise?"

Dr. Willowbrook shook his head. "It was here for all these years?"

Clark nodded. "The symbols on the cave have to be pressed in a certain sequence in order for the wall to open. I didn't know about it or how to do it at first, myself. My...Jor-El helped with it at first."

Chloe shook her head. "You mean he had you brainwashed and Kal-El opened it."

"Yeah, but it's open now and I am chock-full of free will," Clark corrected, leaning against the altar. Standing wasn't all that comfortable anymore and his back was cramping already. Yeah, he was so never doing this again.  
>"Kal, really, I don't think this is such a great idea."<p>

"Kara, I can do this. I did it once already. It's really disorienting but I can handle it," he said, turning to the professor. "Can I have it please?"

Dr. Willowbrook, who had been holding the necklace for him, handed it to Clark. Taking a deep breath, Clark touched the engraved hope symbol and the world changed and then it didn't. He was still standing in front of the altar, but no one else he knew was. In the place Chloe had been standing was a young woman. She was probably no older than he was, maybe even a little younger. She had large doe eyes and a cascade of dark hair that set off her high cheekbones. Clark gulped.

The thing about the disc was-and he had to give his birth people, as messed up as they were, credit for their technological prowess-everything with it felt real. He could smell the dust and mildew in the cave, taste something in the back of his mouth, the remnants of something gamy like venison. He could feel the rush of love and lust for a woman whom he'd never met. It had been beyond disturbing to be there, feeling it, as Jor-El and Lana's aunt made love. It was even odder to be standing there feeling something so strong for the silent Kawatchee girl in front of him.

"Numan?"

And, like before, he knew what to say, the script played out easily because, of course, the memory had already been written. "Nyla, I wanted to show you something."

The girl giggled. "Of course you did. That's why we snuck off into the cave after the feast. It was your idea."

"I know," he said, glancing up and the part of him that was still Clark noted that the cave walls were now bare. No one had had time to paint anything yet. "I have not been honest with you and your people, not completely."  
>"You are not from a visiting tribe, are you?"<p>

"Not any one you've ever heard of," he replied.

She frowned. "There are legends of men who are white as snow who come from so far away. It's been whispered throughout the plains. They say some of them have come to the south from a funny place called 'Spain.'"

He shook his head and took her to the rock wall in front of him. "I am from farther away than that."

"I don't understand then. If you're not from a tribe and you're not a white man, then there are no other options left."

He smiled sadly. "There is one," with that, he pushed on the cave wall, sliding thousands of pounds of stone easily, to reveal the altar from which he'd come. The portal to Krypton was there. It was his way home when the time for his mission to end came. It had been hidden here long ago, long before this tribe had even existed. His people had been watching Earth for thousands of years, had watched a race startling close to his own evolve and grow. They were primitive. Even the culture that had prevailed with the Greeks and Romans or that new rebirth in Europe couldn't compare to what they had. But soon…they could be a very great people.

He was not the only one interested in them, but it was different here. There were other explorers, some were scientists as he was, but there were others, ones fueled by the rumors of the yellow radiation and the powers of gods. A few rogues had made their way to the southern continent, the one of lush jungles and set up a slaughter house. The House of Zod had been punished for that and the strictures around travel intensified ten-fold.

No one could stay for longer than a year in Earth time and they weren't supposed to interbreeding. It was for study, not for anything frivolous, and he'd fallen anyway. He was going to destroy his rescue beacon tonight and leave it in the caves if Nyla accepted him. If not, well, there were other planets to explore and a fine match arranged for him at home.  
>Beside him, Nyla gasped. "How did you do that?"<p>

Hesitantly, he turned to face her and was grateful when he only saw wonder in her eyes. "I'm not from around here."

"I knew this."

He sighed and placed a hand on the table before him. "You have legends about the stars, about how the first mothers wished them into existence."

"That I do know," she replied wryly. "This I don't understand."

"I'm from them."

"What?" Her tone was confused but she reached out for his hand and he gratefully took it. "You're from where?"

"There's so much beyond the plains. You wouldn't believe what the 'white men' have done. The cities they've built or the art they've painted. What we have…we're from a place so far across the stars that even traveling as fast as possible it would take years to reach here. We made short cuts."

"Short cuts?"

He nodded, "It's not a monolith. It's a transporter. It's how we get here, usually. It's how we come and watch."

"And that's all you do?"

"It's all I'm allowed to do."

"You haven't just been watching," she said, still clutching his hand. "You've lived with us for four months. We've…" she trailed off, blushing. There were things no proper woman of the tribe would have done with a stranger, but they had kissed. Oh, had they kissed.

"I broke the rules. I don't want to go back, but-"

"But what?"

"If you won't have me. Then I don't have a reason to stay," he looked away and refused to meet her gaze. The Clark part of him had lived this scene before several times in his life, both with friends and lovers, and it had gone both ways. He understood Numan's fear.

A gentle hand cupped his chin and pushed, then struggled, trying to lift it, "Numan, raise you're head."

"If you say no, I'd rather not."

Soft lips were on his and his blood was quickly flowing elsewhere. "Then I've said 'yes' and you will stay?"

He brought his head up and grinned, something bright and beaming. "Oh Rao, yes."

"Then that wasn't so hard at all, and the things you did for me. The way you ran us here, like a spell almost, and your strength. You can show them to the tribe. We're honored to have you visiting us."  
>"I'm not a god," he said. "There's so much superstition here still. My people have taken advantage of it before."<p>

"Then don't take advantage, enjoy the invitation. My father likes you and he would be happy to have you take my hand. See," she said. "All problems are solved."

"If only we could all be sixteen and so hopeful," he replied and the Clark part of him felt really bad all of a sudden. Of course, considering the limited life expectancy on the Kansas plains with no heat or medicine, it was not as surprising as it could have been that someone of Numan's age had settled with someone so young.

"I am sure. There's a difference," she replied, kissing him again.

Clark chuckled to himself. This girl looked a bit like Lana with her dark hair and alluring eyes, but she was pure Chloe in spirit. Some things made sense here even.

Numan sighed. "There is a complication if I stay. I am stronger than you."

"I noticed when you ripped through the cave."

"If we ever had a child together, it would kill you. You wouldn't last into the second trimester."

"The what?"

He blushed, "It's a medical term where I come from. You're belly would not even be fat before a child with my strength tore through you. It would not work."

"Oh," Nyla replied, her eyes glimmering with tears. "Then why do you tease me at all if you say it's hopeless? Are you going back after telling me what I could've had? How cruel are you."

"I'm not leaving, not now. I was just telling you of the risks you'd be taking. I can fix it. There's a way to make you as strong as I am or close enough. You could survive that way and after our child is born, I would take the gifts back."

"Do you not trust me with the powers of a goddess?"

He smiled sadly and stroked her hair. "I don't trust myself with them. They aren't meant to be had and you wouldn't want them. They're lonely and it's a struggle not to break everything around me all the time."

"Then our child would-"

"I do not know what he could do. It has never been done. It's illegal."

"So we'd be the first," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Good then because I'll try anything and I'm not a coward."

He laughed, "I figured that out after you met your first alien and didn't even scream."

"My what?"

"Visitor from the stars then," he replied, reaching into the deer skin pouch he carried and slipping out the bracelet from his family. "This is from my House. I carried it with me here. I…it's mine by birthright and if something had happened on my journey…I didn't want to be separated from it. It was my mother's and it's all I have left of her."  
>Nyla's eyes widened as she gazed at the large silver band and it's glitter turquoise-like stone. "It's beautiful."<p>

"It's for the person we intend to marry. We only get one and we have to choose wisely. I've chosen you," he said, slipping the band on her wrist.

He took the enthusiastic kisses to his face as a sign she'd liked the gift.

"Clark? Clark?" Chloe was shouting at him and waving her hand in front of his face. "Hey, Earth calling…wait that sounds bad."

He laughed and leaned back against the table. It had been such a nice reprieve not to be aching and tired and so pregnant for a few minutes. "It's okay, Chlo. I'm good."

"See, total space cadet. I hate those damn things," Kara groused.

"I'm fine. It's not so bad, really. I'm used to it."

"Did you see anything useful, Numan?" Dr. Willowbrook asked, pulling two tattered objects from an old wooden box.

He shook his head. "I saw the caves. I was there the first time the actual Numan, the original one, asked the mother of your tribe to marry him. It's when he told about what would happen if they wanted to have a kid together. It wasn't anything I didn't know."

"You saw nothing else, Kal?" Kara prodded and he noticed how she moved her right hand furiously to draw his attention to her bracelet.

He glanced down reflexively and stared at Chloe's arm and how awfully naked it looked without. Slipping into Kryptonian he added, "You're right, Kara. I'm an idiot."

She grinned. "You finally admit you're a moron and you won't do it in English?" She added so that both Chloe and the professor could understand her.

"What is he a moron about?" Chloe asked, frowning.

"Everything," he answered vaguely. He'd been wasting so much time. He should have given her the bracelet the day he'd gotten out of ISIS. He certainly should have done it before now. He didn't care what she had to say or about her hang-ups. If he…well he deserved to let her know everything, leave it all out there for her. He owed her that.

It would at least give him some peace.

"Clark?"

"I'm fine, Chlo. I promise we'll talk about it tonight. Dr. Willowbrook, what other items do you have?"

"There was not much that we saved . There is a piece of what we think is swaddling for the newborn first of our people," he said placing a tattered piece of what might have been considered cloth centuries ago on the table. "The other thing, we have no words for it."

"Now?"

"I've never seen anything close to it except for the dagger Jeremiah took."

"Show it to me."

Chief Joseph nodded and put the long metal spike on the table. It was etched with Kryptonian and Chloe gasped at the symbol in the center of it. "Even I know that one."

"It's Zod's," Kara spat.

"It's the symbol of his House, technically," Clark clarified. "Yeah, apparently they were big in the conquistador school of colonization. I have this feeling they were doing the vestal virgin and human sacrifice thing with the Mayans."

"That makes so much sense," Kara said. "Savage."

"Yeah, that about sums it up," he said, looking back up at Chief Joseph. "What is this?"

"The first Numan couldn't stay. He was summoned. His people found him and he was ordered to return home. He promised Nyla that he'd come back but he did not. She went down to the caves herself and that was all she found of him."

Clark hesitated before touching either item. "I…let's try the cloth first. I have a really bad feeling about the last one."

"Numan, you don't have to finish this."

"No, I do. If something at the birth could help-"

"We get it," Chloe said shortly. "Just get on with it. The part where you space out is really distressing, okay?"

He smiled and cupped her cheek. "I'm fine. It's all a head trip anyway." And with that, he reached out for the brittle fabric in front of him.

Nyla was clutching his hand so tight that he heard something snap. There were no mid-wives for this, just him and the shaman in front of him. It was dangerous enough for the old man. His wife was almost as strong as he was and if she flailed or kicked, the old man would be dead.

She screamed again and his acute ears heard something tear. "What's going on?"

The medicine man looked up and shook his head. "I have never seen anything like this. There is so much blood."

Numan swallowed and tried to keep himself from breathing. He could smell the bitter copper scent now that he was aware of it. He could not tell if it was his son's blood, Nyla's, or if it even mattered anymore. Nyla's grip was weakening and she was so very pale. "What can we do?"

Again he cursed himself for his stupidity. On Krypton, they would have had access to the best medical care in five galaxies. There would have been anesthesia and nurses and sterile environments. There would have been something to stop the blood flow. There had to have been something. When had he even heard of woman dying in childbirth on his home planet?

"I do not know. She's almost done. If she can push once more, at least we can bring the child out. I can do nothing for him while he's inside of her."

"Nyla?" He asked, soothing back her tangled bangs from her forehead. "You need to do this one more time."

"Nothing hurts."

"I know."

"No, I'm not in pain. The spasms hurt but there is nothing that I can feel that is torn," she gasped between deep breaths. "The blood's not mine."

Oh Rao.

He squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back with a force that would have rendered coal into diamonds. "Once more, please."

Clark watched all of it from his own corner of the world. He paled and choked back his nausea as he watched her hips bend and dislocate, as he watched the newborn being squeezed into the world. Nyla screamed lividly and god it looked like it hurt.

The medicine man pulled the infant up and wrapped him in a mix of rabbit fur and swaddling cloth, but there was no cry.

"What's wrong?" Nyla asked. "He's not moving."

"Whispering Wind?" Numan asked. "How is he?"

The shaman did not reply directly, but clutched the infant more tightly and hurried into the night. "Numan, come with me."

"But-"

"Do as you're told for once," he said before he disappeared out of the hut.

"Numan?" His wife cried and he was torn. He didn't want to leave her tired and alone, unsure of their son's fate, but she wasn't the one dying. Her abilities would see to that, especially now that the baby could not drain them.

"I'll be back with our son," he said, kissing her forehead and blurring off to where the old man had gone. He found him leaning over their son, saying a prayer, and Numan forced himself not to listen. He didn't want to know if it was one for the dead or a plea for help. "What's wrong with him?"

The shaman continued his chant and unwrapped the infant. Numan was thankful for the warm summer night. If it had been winter, the exposure alone would have finished what incompatible genetics had started. "See for yourself. I have never seen anything like it, but I should have guessed as much, knowing who you are, Visitor."

Numan nodded and kneeled down, running a hand over his son's still body. It came back wet with blood. Leaning closer, he noticed the lattice work of veins, small and thin, some that would not have been visible to anyone without his vision that trailed out of his son's skin. In addition to the vascular system, which had not finished closing off-Nyla had gone into labor four weeks earlier than he'd hoped-was an umbilical cord just like his Xenobiologgy course had Academy told him there would be.

"He's still bleeding. He's not dead."

"I can't stop it, Numan."

"I can," he said and, dear Rao, he'd never attempted anything this delicate with his heat vision. But he could cauterize the veins shut. There must have been fifty of them, but he could do it if he tried. Breathing in deeply and praying to a deity that his people no longer truly believed in, he started his work.

"Rao, please."

"Kal!" Kara shouted and this time she was shaking him. "Come on, this isn't funny. It's like a human thinking it's a great idea to just saw their leg off instead of going to the doctor. The technology sucks that hard."

He blinked. "That's not helping. I have one more to go, Kara, and then I'll get it."

"What happened this time?" Chloe asked and this time it was her arms wrapped around his waist as best they could and not just a simple hand squeeze.

"I…Nyla…she's the Numan's wife. She didn't go to term. It was early by four weeks."

"J'onn says you're due in a little more than three."

He gulped. "It looks like we deliver early."

"Oh Rao, we're not ready," Kara replied.

"What else did you see, Numan?" Dr. Willowbrook pressed and his voice was as calm and steady as ever. It helped ease Clark's own racing heart and mind.

"The baby. He was born wrong. He wasn't still born but there was so much blood. The veins didn't close off the way they were supposed to and he was born bleeding to death."

"But he didn't die," Chloe reminded him.

"No, Numan used his heat vision to cauterize everything. I guess it must have worked." He paused. "There were at least fifty he closed."

Kara frowned, "We have more than that when we gestate. It's closer to a thousand."

"Okay," Chloe said and he could tell that she was fighting her inner urges to press for more.

"Well, he had an umbilical cord because he's half human. I guess Kon would too."

Kara shook her head. "We don't. We can't support that. You're Kryptonian and you're carrying him. You can double check for yourself right now. He's got almost a thousand microscopic and not quite veins feeding into you."

"No one could repair that much that fast," he replied and then he frowned. "Does that mean he wouldn't have a belly button?"

"Nope."

"We do."

Kara rolled her eyes and it was odd to have her in exposition mode. She was still her bratty self, but she was also as knowledgeable in her own way as Dr. Willowbrook was in his. "My father and yours were not stupid. It's a slight modification so no one asks questions, Kal. You certainly weren't born with one."

"Okay, then." He said, poking at the apparent modification that had long since popped outwards to accommodate his growing son. "The veins bled out but from the son's end. It didn't affect Nyla."

"Because she was human," Chloe finished, frowning. "I don't like the sound of that."

Chief Joseph sighed. "You, Miss Sullivan, know better than to jump to conclusions before all the facts are gathered. It doesn't mean anything necessarily. Numan might not be affected the same way or there may be something our friend J'onn will bring back to us tonight."

"Right," Clark said, forcing himself to smile at Chloe. The tight grip around him only intensified; she wasn't buying it. "It might not mean anything. God, is it really hot in here to anyone else?" He asked rubbing at his temples.

They came back covered in sweat.

"Kal?"

"Clark, it's Kansas and it's twenty degrees outside and we're in a cave. It's freezing."

"I…it's nothing."

"It's not nothing. You look terrible. We have to stop this," Chloe replied. "It's not good for you."

"I'm fine ," he groused, reaching out and touching the final artifact before she could stop him.

His son was beautiful. Because of his mother, Nulec would be in line to be the next chief of the tribe. Because of his father, he would have the phenomenal strength to make his tribe legend on the plains. It was not something that Numan wanted for his son. They were scientists. They were no House of El. They were thinkers no other House could aspire to be, but they were men of peace and gentility. He would teach his son the same ways when he grew old enough.

Nyla smiled at him from where he sat rocking their infant child in his arms. Nulec was falling slowly to sleep and his luminous green eyes, so bright that they glowed much like a feline's at night, were boring into his.

Yes, beautiful.

Like his mother.

"You seem very pleased," she said, slipping in next to him.

"I am. It's been some long months but now that he's almost a year old and sleeps through the night, things have gotten easier at home. It's so very peaceful." She smiled and reached out for their child and he transferred him to her grasp, grinning to himself at how Nulec's preternaturally bright eyes complimented the stone in his wife's bracelet. So perfect.

Nyla pressed a kiss to Nulec's forehead. "My father wants to have a festival for him when he reaches one year. He wants to show him off to our brother tribes in the nation. He is already so strong and the way he defies the pull of the great mother earth, I think my father is hoping for a great warrior to lead his people."

Numan sighed. He had not anticipated how fast his son would come into his powers and how strong the force of the yellow radiation was on an even half-human child. "He's not meant for that, Nyla. He's going to be a man of peace. He's going to be no more violent than I am."

"Father won't hear of that."

"Last time I checked Nulec was not Morning Call's son."

Nyla sighed this time. "You and he are going to clash many times over this. I can tell."

"It will be worth it. I broke the rules of my people. Our son is very special but he should not exist and what he can do makes it so that no man or army on earth can stop him. It is an unfair advantage."

"It's his gift."

"And it's his burden to bear. The House of Ro are not killers, and neither of us are going to interfere with the affairs of the tribe other than to keep it safe. If another tribe attacked or the Europeans came this far for war, then yes. But we're not conquerors."

"And I don't want him to be," she stated firmly. "I'm only warning you about what the elders would like. It's going to be difficult."

He smiled sadly and kissed her temple. "It always is."

"You have no idea," a cold voice sneered and Numan looked up to find a dark black jumpsuit entering into his sod hut, a man dressed in artificial fibers, a Kryptonian, and one with the most hated of all family crests on his front.

"Who are you?"

"You know which House I'm from," he replied coolly, fingering his long pointed beard. "You've broken the rules."

"I wasn't the first. Someone from the House of Zod should know that."

The man shook his head and reached out to touch Nyla's face. She spat in his and he laughed. "If you're going to make nice with the simians, then I'm glad you at least picked one with spirit."

"Oh I have more than that you filthy-"

Numan stood up and put a hand to her lips. "Don't bait him."

"You can take him."

"Oh, I'm sure he can," the man laughed. "But probably not before I could fry both of you, and that would be a pity."

"Have you come to enforce the laws then? I can't help but find irony in that."

"We're not all blacklisted by the Council," he replied, pulling out thick metal cuffs. "You come with me or I kill them both. I'm supposed to kill the child on principle. The Council ordered that it wasn't allowed to live."

"You can't!" Nyla shouted, surging to her feet. The motion woke Nulec and he screamed. On the small table, one of the clay cups shattered.

The man looked from the crying infant to the table where the glassware continued to break. "Oh, the Council is going to love this. They've been trying to make that stunt work for years. If they'd known. Well, we wouldn't have been fucking Martians-in vitro of course-we'd have been fucking the monkeys down here."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The man from the House of Zod shook his head. "You can't even lie well anymore, Numan-Ro." With that, he slammed the cuffs down on Numan's wrists. "You can come with me and I'll tell the Council that there never was a child, that it was only about the woman."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm a nice guy."

"Hardly."

"Because the Council's side missions don't interest me. You've got the bounty and that's what I need. We're leaving."

"I can't say good bye?"

"One minute," he said, pushing Numan toward his wife.

"Don't go with him."

"I'll be back. I'll…sometimes the Council is lenient." From his spectator's corner, Clark shuddered at the obvious lie. He had learned enough from Dax-Ur's records and Kara's stories to know that it was anything but merciful. Numan was never coming back. If they let him live at all, it would be a miracle.  
>"Numan, don't lie."<p>

Clark sighed. With her fierce tone, she really did remind him of Chloe. The elder women were right about how compatible they were.

"Then I will make them listen," he said, as the man from the House of Zod yanked him out the door. "I'll come back!"

With that, they had blurred to the caves.

When they paused again, Numan frowned. "We haven't jumped yet. You've had time."

"I'm not jumping. I have a much better idea," the man replied, pulling a long, thin metal rod from his belt loop.

"You're going to kill me? Then the bounty…"

"Doesn't appeal to me as much," he said, smiling cruelly. "It's a primitive race and backwards planet but what is it the humans with some 'civilization' say. 'It's better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,' something like that?"

Numan swallowed. "You're going to stay."

He nodded. "Not here. There are other places I've heard of. The Far East sounds more like my style. Opium dens and lithe maidens and all those fireworks. Primitive but more fun to watch unfold than the flat prairies here. I heard you arguing with your wife. You're a fool."

"Am I?" Numan asked, glancing at the cave's exit.  
>"Don't. I can move faster than you and the neural scrambler is painless yet effective. I can shoot you just as dead and you, even as we are here, couldn't outrun it."<p>

Numan stopped. "You're going to make yourself a god."

"I'm going to make my line rulers of the whole world," he snorted and brought the point of his weapon to Numan's forehead. "You're a fool. You could have had a whole planet at your feet."

"I didn't want that."

"Well I do," he said, slamming the needle point all the way into Numan's brain.

He'd lied.

It hurt and he screamed.

Clark stumbled and collapsed toward the floor of the caves. He would have fallen flat on Kon if his cousin hadn't caught him. "Kal, Rao, you were screaming so loud."

"Clark?" Chloe asked, leaning over him. "What happened?"

"I…" he was gasping, trying to catch his breath. "He killed him."

"What?" Chloe asked and she helped him to his feet.

"Someone found out he was here. I don't know how. One of Zod's ancestors, I guess, and they had the same taste for world conquest."  
>Chloe snorted. "Genetic megalomania. Doesn't surprise me. I've met Lex."<p>

"We're not trashing Uncle Lionel again, are we?"

"Not now, flamebird," Chief Joseph chided. "Numan what did you see?"

"The Zod-guy found Numan, figured out what he'd done, and dragged him to the caves claiming he was taking him to the Council for a trial."

"Of course," Kara replied coolly. "We're not allowed to interbreed with aliens. We've never been allowed to. Even, no especially in the end. It was one of the few offenses punishable by death."

"Whoa," Chloe said.

"We might have been a little Xenophobic," Kara admitted.

"Irony much?"

"Our bad points aside, I'd say that's a problem the new Council isn't worried with." Clark replied, leaning against the table and rubbing a few small circles in his aching back.

"New Council? That would imply that I'm the head vote, right?" Kara asked.

"I'll tell you what. You can be president on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and I'll be head on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays."

"What about Sundays?"

"Jax can have Sunday."

She snorted, "With him in charge we'll be eating Captain Crunch for dinner and watching Ninja Turtles." Kara brightened at that. "That's not such a bad deal really."

Chloe laughed despite everything and he chuckled too. Even Chief Joseph joined in. "Man, has the mighty Krypton fallen really low," Chloe said.

"Wait 'til I introduce Top Model Mondays. It's going to be legendary," Kara quipped.

Clark sighed and sobered. "The point is that Zod's ancestor found everything out-the whole life Numan had running here-and he decided to copy him in China, but he was going to have his children take over the world. He didn't want the competition."

"So he murdered Numan," Chloe finished.

He grinned at her synchronicity with him. "Exactly. I guess the Council found out about Zod-guy's plans because, last time I checked, the planet wasn't overrun with us."

"Well, that was a sad lesson in history," Chloe said, "But it wasn't very helpful."

He sighed. "Not really. Nulec-that's the son's name-he had some gifts when he was born, like Kon will. He was strong and a telekinetic too. Zod-guy really liked that part of it."

Kara chimed in, "It's a pretty cool power. I'm already jealous of Kon."  
>Chloe frowned at him. Damn it. She always knew what he wasn't saying. "There was something else."<p>

"I…no?"

"Numan, don't lie to your beloved."

Clark slumped his shoulders, "Okay, now that sounds way too formal."

"Yeah, I…we're not married," Chloe objected.

"Not yet," Kara said under her breath low enough that only he could hear her.

"But," Chloe continued. "He has a point so spit it out."

"I…Nulec could float."

"When he was fourteen or something, right? Like you?"

"No, the Zod-guy came from Numan before the baby even turned one."

"Oh that is so cool," Kara said. "Hah! Everyone is going to fly before you, Kal."

"Flamebird, bragging does not become you."

"Shows what you've learned so far, professor," Chloe said tiredly. "It's Kara's favorite pastime." She smiled up at Clark and patted his shoulder. "Okay, that's new but we'll just outfit the nursery a little better, bars on the window or something and maybe some padding on the ceiling in case he goes too high. We can make it work. I mean, it's not that much of a surprise considering you never really floated consistently until he came along."

"I know," he replied mournfully, rubbing his temples. "I guess there goes any sleepovers or time at camp, huh?"

"Maybe," Chloe said. "But mosquitos suck and everyone always plays that game where they stick your hand in the water and you pee your bed. He won't miss much."

Actually, like him, Kon would miss a lot, even from the beginning. Clark sighed and stroked his stomach. He wouldn't say he was sorry in front of Chloe because he didn't want a lecture right now, but he felt sorry just the same. Like with Dax-Ur and Jax, everything odd his son was getting was coming from him.

"Was that it, Kal?" Kara asked anxiously. "I think we really should get going. You're shirt looks like it's almost soaked through."

"I…yeah, that was it," he replied, shutting away memories of Nulec's eyes. They were so much greener than his and reminded him of the inhuman look of Namek and Zod's female lieutenant. Maybe that was because of something else, having a human mother (for lack of a better term). Maybe, just maybe, Kon would be spared one oddity.

Clearly Jax had been.

"Come on," Chloe replied, taking his arm. "We're going home to wait for J'onn. God, you're exhausted."

"It had to be done," he replied as they walked back to the cave's opening and out into the grassy field where the old truck was parked. "Now we at least no some things about the pregnancy. I…J'onn and Kara have heat vision or close enough anyway. Maybe cauterizing is the answer."

"It's a stop-gap," Chloe replied. "You'd still bleed. It's just betting that you can outrace the blood loss."

"I am very fast," Kara defended.

"Well, it's still a start," Clark conceded opening the car door and then he felt it, that rush of intense heat again and he screamed. "Chlo!"

Nine years with him gave her enough sense to know when to duck. Chloe threw herself to the ground and dragged the professor with him. Clark hoped nothing was broken, but didn't have time to check. Instead he felt the heat finally crescendo and he couldn't keep his eyelids closed. His eyes burst open and heat vision so intense-even more fiery hot than the blasted that had melted steel-escaped from his eyes and the trees in front of him exploded into ash, like the fine sprinkling of a spouting volcano.

And still the heat grew.

One minute, two, and he could feel it still coming and there was a crater where he was looking now. "God, Kara, help me."

"Oh Rao," she said. "I'm really going to hate this tonight," and he felt her hands clamp over his eyes and then smelled flesh burn.

"Don't do that!"

"I do this and I heal. I let you go and some poor idiot hiker dies. Kal, just let me do this," she shouted back and he did.

God, it went on forever.

Finally, blessedly, it stopped and he was normal again. "Kara?"

"Are you sure?" she asked and her hands didn't even feel soft anymore. What had he done?

"It's over," he said and then started to shiver in earnest. The heat was gone from him and the snow he was kneed deep him was chilling him rapidly. "Let's go home, please."

"Alright, baby cousins," she said, pulling back her hands and Clark opened his eyes wide. The field in front of him was three times the size of the blast crater his ship had left that time on the farm. Everything in its wake was ash if it was anything at all. Clark blinked and looked up at Kara and then he closed his eyes in shame. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, Clark," Chloe said, and he could her the snow crunching around her as she stood. "I've got this. Supergirl's had worse from Lex."

"It's not fun," Kara added. "But I totally lived to tell the tale, you know."

He opened his eyes and watched as a rose-colored light rose from Chloe's hands and enveloped the charred, skeletal remains of what had once been Kara's. Like time-lapse the muscle grew back, the skin knitted over itself, and her hands were whole again.

Chloe flinched and bit her lip but said nothing.

Clark was floored by her strength.

He was not the only one.

"Miss Sullivan, it appears that Numan and the flamebird are not the only ones with such amazing gifts. What you have done is nothing short of remarkable."

"I've had the power for over a year. It's all very been there, done that, you know?"

Dr. Willowbrook shook his head as he made it to his feet. "You are very modest but the power was not what I was referring to. You had to take on Kara's pain, didn't you? It's why she hesitated and you are still flinching."

"It doesn't hurt that much," she lied. "Clark, really, it's fine. I'll be feeling 100% in an hour."

He closed his eyes and wanted to cry, but he couldn't bear to in front of Chief Joseph. "I know, Chlo."

"That selflessness," Chief Joseph said, as he started to help Clark to his feet. "Is why you're perfect to be Connor's mother."

"Chief-" She started, but didn't finish.

She didn't get to finish because no sooner had Clark stood up than he grew dizzy and crashed to the ground.


	33. Chapter 33

33

Clark woke up in his own bed and immediately reached out for his stomach. Kara had been so hurt and disoriented from what he'd done to her that she hadn't had time to catch him on the way down. He'd landed flat on his stomach. Panicked, he activated his X-ray vision and perked up his hearing. The heartbeat-the one that even above Chlo's soothed him like no one else's-was still as steady as it had ever been. As he peeled the layers of his own skin and muscle away, he watched as his son curled tighter into a ball and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Oh, thank God," he said, cupping the swell of his abdomen with both hands. "I thought I'd hurt you."

Kon, of course, didn't answer.

"Where's everybody, buddy? You think they'd be all bedside. I've never passed out before." Clark sighed and, sitting up, swung his legs over the side of his bed. "Were you too tired to float tonight? Me too, buddy. Hey," he said, perking up his ears again, listening for the sounds of the house. "I think I hear mommy arguing with everybody. Do you want to watch? She's good at that." He paused and realized that pretending to supply an answer for his not-yet-born son was probably not a sign of his sure mental health.

Of course, if he told any shrink in the country that he was a pregnant male intergalactic traveler, he'd have a nice room in Belle Reve by sunrise, so it was all relative.

"Yeah, I think we should be quiet. They obviously didn't invite us," he said, standing up and easing as quietly as he could down the stairs. If Kara was around, she'd catch him, but it was worth a shot. He had a feeling he was missing out on something important.

Clark came to sit on his favorite spot at the top of the stairs. He'd hidden there every Christmas since he'd been nine and realized Santa meant mom and dad. But he always loved watching his mom set out everything with the same decorative flare as the best department store window dressers in Metropolis and giggling as his dad ate handfuls of cookies. Right now, no one assembled in his living room looked jolly.

They looked scared.

Even Lionel and when Satan (maybe) looked terrified, it was a bad sign. It made him feel worse when he realized that in addition to Chloe, his mom, Lionel, and the Manhunter, Kara and Jimmy were both there. Jimmy completely surprised him. They were friends, now, but he wasn't family. Except, Clark realized, watching at the way he cradled his sobbing cousin, Jimmy very much was. He thought back over the last three months, at how hard Jimmy had tried to think up 'guy things' to do with him, at how lovingly he'd painted the nursery, at the lame attempts he'd made to make everything seem totally normal.

He hadn't done it for Clark, although, really they were pretty good friends by now.

He'd done it because he loved Kara.

It hit him then that she'd chosen Jimmy the same way he'd chosen Chloe and Numan before them had chosen Nyla. Jimmy would be the father of whatever child she tried to have. Clark was as certain of it as he'd ever been of anything. As someone that invested in his family, Jimmy had the right to know exactly how it worked and what could potentially befall Kara. Judging by the way Kara was crying-and she never cried, not even when he told her there was no more Krypton-it would be something awful.

"You're wrong, J'onn!" Chloe shouted and Clark winced, struggling to tone down his sensitive hearing. It, like his sense of smell and, apparently, heat vision, was one of the few gifts the pregnancy had strengthened.

"I'm not. Kara read everything I brought back and her Kryptonian, obviously, is far better than mine. Tell her."

When Kara looked up, she was red-faced and her skin was blotchy. "It's not wrong, Watchtower. I wish it was but it's not. I swear it's not."

"Read it again because you made a mistake."

Kara's eyes blazed red for a second. "I know how to read my own language, Chloe, and I read everything J'onn brought back from Egypt and China. I read all of it five times and it's exactly like he said it was."

"Then it's wrong."

"Miss Sullivan," Lionel said and it was beyond odd to see him place a calming hand on her shoulder. "I think that the time for denial is surely over."

"Chloe, sweetheart," his mother added. "Sit back down and we'll talk about our options."

Chloe shook her head. "We don't have any of those now. J'onn just proved that for us."

"It's in poor taste, Miss Sullivan, to shoot the messenger. He's reporting facts. He certainly did not make them," Lionel replied.

Chloe sagged at that and sat back down onto the sofa, clutching at his mother's hand. "Then explain it to me again, Kara."

"You heard her," Jimmy replied. "Don't make her repeat it."

"I need to her it again, James," she said pointedly.

"Then, I'll say it because she can't bear to. The records were right but they weren't, you know? It said a fifty-fifty chance, but the anecdotes were sketchy. This kind of stuff always is."

"I knew that," Chloe groused.

"Well, then, we know what happened with the Kawatchee. You and CK and Chief Joseph have figured all of that out, but J'onn brought back the other cases and if my girlfriend-" And Clark could easily hear him saying wife in the same adoring tone. "…says they're right, then they're right."

"I know, but they can't be."

"They are. The five pregnancies that worked, the mother was human with Kryptonian strength, but in the five where the mother and child bled to death, the mother was Kryptonian trying to carry a half-human child to term. It's the veins. They don't shut off the way they're supposed to. They don't clamp shut before birth because it's not even something that humans do. Clark and Connor are going to bleed to death and you can't stop that."

"Read it again, Kara."

His cousin shook her head and threw the assembly of scrolls and notes into Chloe's lap. "Have the Oracle fucking read it. I'm tired. I just found out that I can never have a child of my own. My entire race is gone, and there can never be anyone like me anywhere because if I try it, I'll die."

"Kara," Jimmy soothed.

"No," she said, her voice wavering. "It's so much worse than that because my baby cousin, my whole family in the universe, is going to die and I could have stopped it. I could have said something. I just didn't think. If I had…I'm going to lose them both, and I did it."

"That sense of guilt is inherited," J'onn noted. "You didn't do it, Kara. You couldn't have known about this part of it. It wasn't taught in Academy. You didn't make Kal-El have sex."

Kara was crying again. "He's my family, J'onn. I don't even like you but you have to fix this."

"Perhaps the Fortress-" Lionel started.

"No," Clark said, easing himself down the stairs and shaking his head at the guilty looks his family was exchanging. "We're not going to the Fortress. It's defective and psychotic and if it let me live, it would never let me keep Kon. It would raise him the way Zod's ancestor wanted to do with his children. Kon would be a conqueror and with the Fortress controlling him, nothing the League could do, even with J'onn and Kara in it, could stop him. I won't do that."

"Clark, son," Lionel said and Clark was too tired to fight the appellation. "If you don't go, you'll die and so will Kon."

"If I go, Kon's a slave to the AI and that's not living at all and the rest of the world pays for my mistake," he finished, smiling gratefully when Jimmy and Kara both stood up to make room for him in the old rocking chair. "I have all the say in this. I learned that from ISIS. I'm not going to do that. I won't." He looked mournfully at his cousin. "Apparently, I can't save Krypton, but I can spare Earth and I love it here. I'm going to keep it safe."

His mother was smiling back at him, "Your father would be so proud."

"And it's stupid," Kara spat, adding a few curses in Kryptonian that made both J'onn and Lionel frown. "Uncle Screw-You-in-Detroit might be nuts but he could keep you alive. How is this not the only option?"

"It's the worst idea, Kara. You know that. You saw what your father did with the Fortress. Imagine what it could do with Kon. It's all screwed up and doesn't think straight and it wants to rebuild Krypton but not the way Jor-El wanted. He wanted me to help people, to keep the memory of our home alive." He sighed and patted his stomach. "Apparently, I was not supposed to literally repopulate. But the Fortress doesn't understand that and it doesn't care. It wants to do what Zod and Brainiac are trying to, what Zor-El wanted. As it is now, only I can affect the Fortress. But Kon is part of me . The Fortress would get exactly what it's been trying to get for five years-a mindless drone to operate it."

"But Kal, please," she begged. "I can't be alone. I can't."

"Big cousin, come here," he said, and he sighed when she blurred right into his arms. How he missed being able to do that. He'd always loved running the best of all his gifts. He lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. Stroking her cheek, for once not embarrassed by the physical affection, he added, "You won't be, not exactly. You'll have Jimmy and Chloe and Lois and my mom. You have the League and J'onn will never go anywhere. Besides, someone has to take care of Jax when he's old enough, give him the after school spiel and tell him not to get pregnant."

"That's not funny, Kal-El."

"No, it's really not. You'll be okay."

"No, I won't," she replied, setting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Louder, she said, "I won't be okay at all."

"Why not?" Chloe asked. "If we can't stop Clark from dying then we can undo it. It's not the best option, but I can fix him. I fixed you."

"You did not 'fix' Kara," J'onn corrected. "Her hands were burned."

"I've healed her before. There's been a few Kryptonite surprises and one magic thing."

"She was never dead," he corrected. "How long does it take you to wake up after you've raised the dead?"

"With Lois? About three hours. That little girl in Gotham was about two and a half, and there was a robbery gone wrong in the mini-mart besides the Planet. That was three."

"When you healed Lex?" Lionel prodded.

"18 but that's an outside thing," she objected.

"No, it wasn't." J'onn corrected. "Healing a meteor mutant, particularly one whose ability is a heightened immune system to begin with, should have taken you less time, not more. Your ability was taxed because you were healing Kal-El's mind too, keeping him alive, and he wasn't even the one immediately dying."

Kara looked up and frowned at Chloe, "You always hurt longest after healing me."

"You're special then, Supergirl," she groused.

"No, we're like solar batteries. It's a lot of energy that we need to keep going. Think of how much we've had to do to keep Kal fed, no offense-"

"None taken," he said.

"To bring two of us and for all intents and purposes, Kon is very much one of us in the way he uses energy, would take a ridiculous amount of energy. You'd stay dead a lot longer than 18 hours."

"How long?"

"Chloe," his mother said. "I think they mean permanently."

"But if I don't try it, Clark and Connor won't make it at all."

"No," J'onn intoned with his usual grave authority. "They won't."

"Then this is the easiest math problem I've ever done," she said. "And I didn't even need Clark to tutor me this time. One of me for two of them. I can swing that."

"Chlo!"

"Miss Sullivan, I can't believe you'd be that cavalier."

"I'm always cavalier. Lois isn't that much less restrained than I am when I'm determined. I might pull through. It's what I do best. I've resurrected myself at least eight times now. I might live if I try this. Clark and Connor won't if I don't. This is obvious."

"Chloe, please don't do that. I'm all okay with it," Clark lied. "I…I wanted Kon-El to be okay. I wanted him to live so much, but I'm not losing you."

"Nope, sorry, my mind's made up."

"Chlo," he said, wishing he could stand up or loom over her or something to intimidate her into backing down, not that that ever worked even back when he'd been at full strength and she hadn't even had powers. "I won't let you."

She snorted, "You won't let me?"

Kara shifted off of his lap and stood back next to Jimmy. Leaning into his ear and whispering theatrically, she added, "This is about to get good."

Clark struggled to his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yup, that's what I said, not gonna happen."

Chloe strode over to him and she was separated from him by only the width of his belly. "I don't remember you letting me do anything. What? Did the rules change?"

"Sure did. Right now. I'm in charge. It's a Monday."

"Fuck you and the New Council."

"I'm lost," Jimmy said.

"If we wait for twenty more minutes, it's my day and I'm totally voting with Watchtower." Kara added, putting her hands on her hips.

"Chlo, damn it, you can't do that."

"I can and I will," she said glaring up at him and it brought him back to a Metropolis apartment he couldn't legally afford and a girl who'd stormed it just to be his conscience. God, he couldn't kill her.

He wouldn't.

"You don't have any reason to," he said, grabbing at straws.

"Do you even hear how lame that sounds? I have tons of reasons."

"Like what? Doing that goes way beyond friendship. I'm not asking for more, not if it means your life."

"Then I am. I'm going to do it, even if I have to have Kara hold your ungrateful ass down for me, because I love you, you moron, and I'm going to save our son!"

Save for the heartbeats echoing in his ears, Clark had never heard a more silent room. No one spoke. Jimmy had his mouth hanging open practically to the floor. His mother and Lionel were sharing a look of relief and contentment like he'd rarely seen from either of them. Even J'onn was stunned into silence.

"What?" Clark croaked and his voice was so small.

"I said that I love you and not in that lame you're-my-best-friend way, but in the you're-my-soulmate-and-I-can't-live-without-you way. I'm going to save you whether you like it or not and I'm going to save our child."

"Say it again."

"What part?" she asked, the anger draining out of her. Reaching up, she ruffled his bangs back from his forehead and the motion felt familiar somehow, even though he could never remember her doing it before.

"The part about Connor. Say it again."

She smiled. "He's ours, Clark. I want him to be ours. He was ours from the day you told me about the glitches and I started trying to save both of you. He's my son, too, and I'm going to take care of him."

"I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that," Clark replied, smiling and leaning down to kiss her.

The rest of the world around them stopped, at least it did until a smug voice called out across the room: "Finally, it's about time."

His mother had never been more right.

ANNOUNCEMENT - As the next chapter, 34, goes into NC-17 territory, but technically doesn't affect the plot, I've not posted it here. It can be read in its entirety for those over 17 at my site as Chapter 34 of "The Unexpected" posted there. As this jumps now to chapter 35, be aware that what you missed was just Chlark sex.


	34. Chapter 35

35

Clark awoke to find the sun high in the sky outside his window. Apparently, his mom and Kara had let them sleep in. That had been thoughtful of them. Kon, who had had a party last night and possibly a step dance competition, was now soundly asleep and he was grateful. It had really hurt and it had been a struggle to keep Chloe from noticing how much pain he was in.

Chloe.

Clark smiled as he looked down at where her head was pillowed against his shoulder. Her hair was hopelessly tangled, she didn't have a stitch of make-up on, and she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. As if she could feel his scrutiny, Chloe stirred and looked up at him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"How are you feeling, dad?"

Clark chuckled and couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face from the title. "Are you going to add that to the end of all your sentences?"

"Oh God no. That's something cheesy that my dad used to do with my mom. I just wanted to see you grin. You are feeling okay, though? Kon seemed very worked up this morning."

"Well, he's sleeping now and I feel great."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said, frowning a little.

"You know, Clark," Chloe chided. "When you frown, it doesn't do much to convince me that you're telling the truth."

"Oh, it's not that. My stomach feels fine. It's just that, now that you mention it, my chest feels a little funny. Um, tender maybe?"

Chloe arched an eyebrow, "You just noticed this?"

"I was distracted by your perfect beauty."

"Oh that's bad, Chewbacca, try again."

"It's true," he defended, frowning when he realized how sore his chest really was. It reminded him of that day with the stupid Krypto-ade and all the bruises he'd been nursing. "Hey, Chlo, sit up a minute."

"You won't drop me, will you?"  
>"Never," he swore.<p>

"Promise?" She said, climbing over on top of him and sitting very carefully up.

"Of course," he replied, his hands wrapped around her waist soon after to steady her. Chloe didn't notice much. She was too busy frowning at her chest and his. "Why do we look like the set of a Nickelodeon game show?"

Clark bent his neck and looked at the sticky green-mint green like Kon's blanket and not Kryptonite colored-substance that had dried on his stomach, right below his chest. Which, now that he stared down at it did look kind of swollen. "No, God no."

"Clark-" Chloe called out hesitantly.

"Oh no fucking way," he said.

"Clark!" Chloe called, reaching out for his chest and when her fingers grazed against his nipple that not only made a surge or heat flare right through him but also prompted just a hint of something viscous and verdant to trickle out.

"Ahh!" he screamed, dropping her unceremoniously to the bed.

Chloe had enough time to roll over before he crashed down onto it himself. "Clark, really, it's not so-"

"Out! Out now! I don't want to hear it. I don't care. It is bad. It's the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I can die, that's fine. I'm totally okay with that, but not this. No fucking way."

"Clark-" She said, reaching out toward his shoulder.

"I said out!" he shouted and the lamp on his bedside table exploded into a shower of glass and plastic.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Don't be a baby."

"Don't even," he said, standing up and yanking her off the bed. She struggled in his grasp but he was still strong enough to shatter wood with the flex of his fingers. She wasn't going anywhere. He set her outside of the door and then slammed it in her face. "I'm not coming out ever."

"Clark!" She pounded. "Come on, don't be this way. We knew this was going to happen. Come on, be mature about this."

"Mature?" he shouted, wishing he still had his superbreath so that he could make the door shake. "Mature? I have breasts, Chlo! What the Hell do you to be mature for that?"

"They are not. You're just swollen."

"And making milk like a cow. I'm a cow now! A big fat, green intergalactic cow. God, just go away," he said, stomping back to the mattress and putting his pillow over his head. It didn't block out the noise of her shouts, but it did help keep him from staring down at nature's latest round of humiliation. Maybe the Council had a point. If this was the result of having sex with aliens, then Clark really had to warn against it.

His snit lasted exactly two hours.

He wanted it to last longer, but that was how long it took for Kara to drag Jimmy out of a meeting with the head photo editor, help him locate the appropriate tools and pry the hinges off the door. (With the baby coming and Kon's tendency to make things explode on accident, Kara had sworn off ripping through things on the farm herself.)

"Kal," she demanded. "Get up."

"No, go away," he said, pushing his pillow tighter over his face. Maybe if he just pressed it hard enough, he'd suffocate. On the negative side, his breasts would still be there. On the plus side, he'd be dead so he wouldn't care. Clark decided the 'pros' won and he pressed harder, and then the stupid fucking pillow exploded. "Oh just perfect."

"Kal-El," Kara said in Kryptonian. "Chloe and your mom and J'onn are all downstairs waiting for you. Chloe's pissed and she'll probably kill you-"

He sat up and looked hopefully at her. "Really? Do you think she could do that?"

"You're nuts."

"I make milk now. It's green. I think I've earned the right to be nuts."

Kara's eyes widened. "It's green?"

"Why are you surprised by this?"

"I didn't know it'd be green. That's…oh, I don't like that all that much. I don't want to milk green either."

"You mean my mom didn't?"

"Kal-El," she said and, as with happened with her once every blue moon, she actually spoke with a poise that reminded him who was actually the older of the two of them. "We were a close family but we were not that close. Now get up or your fiancé will do worse than kill you."

"There's a worse."

"She'll call Bart and tell him it's open-season on one liners now move."

Clark stood up and pulled a sweatshirt on over his frayed t-shirt in hopes that it would minimize how weird he looked. "Fine, but I don't have to like it."

"Little cousin," she chided. "Try not to act like a child, okay?"

When Kara said you were being immature, it was a bad sign.

Clark didn't care. He had tits. He was allowed to be pissy. A good fiancé would have understood that and left him alone. In fact, that was going to be the starting point of his argument when he got downstairs. As he descended the stairs, Clark tried to cross his arms over his chest but then he felt them and his world imploded all over again, and he tried to head back up the stairs. He'd gotten as far as turning around when Kara shook her head at him.

"No way. March or I swear to Rao that I will drag you myself and that will be even more humiliating."

"Double fine," he huffed, coming to the end of the landing and then heading for the kitchen where he could hear Chloe talking to his mother.

"Clark," his mother said, shaking her head when he entered. "That was very rude to Chloe."

"I don't care," he sniped.

"Clark," she warned, her tone hardening to the one he'd used when he'd been little and tried begging for extra pie. "Don't you talk to me like that."

Immediately, he dropped his head and sighed. How did his mom do that? And how could he insure that he'd get the same response out of Kon? "Yes ma'am." As he said that, he slunk down into a chair at the kitchen table across from J'onn.

"Kal-El, why are you wearing layers?"

"I thought that was pretty obvious," he said sourly.

"Clark," Chloe said, glaring at him. "…has something to show you, J'onn."

"It's really fucked up that you're my obstetrician," Clark groused, still not moving to touch his sweatshirt, let alone take it off. "Remember when we used to fight psychopathic serial killers? Let's do that now. Hell, we can go hang out in the Phantom Zone for a few zany hours. That's more fun than this."

"Off now, Kal," Kara demanded. "Or I'll burn the t-shirt off."

Clark let out a put upon sigh and shucked off his shirts. "Happy now? Turning to J'onn, he glowered at him. "Make these go away."

"Kal-El-" he started, and then Jimmy walked in.  
>"Kara, I couldn't find the right kind of screw driver in CK's tool chest and oh wow," Jimmy said. "You, uh…did you do something different with your hair?"<p>

Clark closed his eyes and shook his head. "You didn't tell Jimmy why you needed the door off the hinges, did you, Kara?"

"Nope, I was trying to spare your dignity, you know? I lied and made up some story about you accidentally sodering the lock shut and then sent him out to look for a wrench that we don't have. I thought it would have taken longer before he gave up."

"I'm good at quitting things," Jimmy added and Clark could hear him chewing an apple behind him. "You should see the load of unused crap from activities I signed up for and never completed. I have a baseball mitt and a visible man and-"

"We get it, James," Chloe said, tiredly. "Clark?"

"Oh what does it matter?" He said, slamming his head down on the table. "My life is over. Hey! Let's call the whole league and the Kawatchee over for this part of the miracle of life. Ooh, bonus, I think Queen Industries has a digital camera division. I bet Ollie can immortalize this for posterity. We can make a slide show and ouch!" He said, when J'onn slapped him on the back of his head.

"Kal-El, get a hold of yourself."

"My life's still over," he mumbled.

"CK, uh, it's not too bad. I mean, I didn't really know what they were at first and they'll go away soon, right?"

"Jimmy, sweetheart," his mother said gently. "Maybe it's better if you don't help."

"James," Kara added. "Don't talk. Kal's already being a real bit-"

"Don't say it. Don't you fucking say it," he groused and the apple in Jimmy's hand exploded.

"Clark Kent! You won't swear in my kitchen." His mother said, offering a napkin to Jimmy, who was still busy staring at his hand and counting to make sure he had all his fingers attached.

He blushed again. "I'm sorry mom. I just…this is a very bad day. This goes right up there with the day I found out I could even get pregnant and way ahead of the ISIS stuff."

Chloe shook her head. "Your priorities are so screwed up. You didn't get this upset last night when you thought you were going to die and stay dead, which, you know, I have to make that distinction in this house since we've got almost a dozen resurrections between us."

"See temporary death! These?" he said, gesturing to the raised lumps his pecs had become. "These are staying. Make them go away now."

"Kal-El, I can't do that," J'onn replied. "You've reached enough saturation of your hormones to foster their growth and until Kon is weaned, they'll stay here."

"Weaned? How long is that going to take? What? We're talking a few weeks, tops, right?" He said, glancing at his mother hopefully.

"Baby, your usually supposed to nurse for a year, at least."

"A year? I'm going to stay like this for a year?" he demanded, gesturing at his chest. "I…formula. We can get formula. They have like four hundred flavors of the stuff and none of it's even green. Kon will love it."

"Clark," Chloe replied, sighing, "You know that's not going to work."

"Sure it will. How do you know until you've tried?"

"Kal," Kara added. "Do you know all the different types of protein that Kon will need? He can't live completely off the sun anymore than we can."

"A lot."

"Yes, baby," his mom continued.

"He won't be able to get everything he needs anywhere else on Earth than from you. The compounds cannot be approximated by any of us," Jonn replied. "If you want your son to live, you'll need to keep him fed and this is the only way."

"I want to get off the ride now," Clark said, letting his shoulders sag. "I don't want to be pregnant anymore. Can I get a do over?"

Chloe sighed and walked over to hug his shoulders. "No, you can't. I'm sorry about this part. I…they don't look like mine."

Clark rolled his eyes. Chloe was usually more articulate than that, but she had a point. They didn't, exactly, just swollen or like, if he were human, that he'd pumped himself full of steroids in that one area. It was mostly the milk part and why did it have to be green? How fucking alien could he get?

"I am such a freak."

And now he was doing that sniffling thing and he despised Lana right then. He was going to kill her. He loved his son, but he hated what was happening to him and if someone had remembered a little, teeny pill, he'd still be normal.

Okay, he'd still be a freakshow, but he wouldn't be a big fat pregnant crying mess leaking green milk.

Sex was evil.

"Oh sweetheart," his mother said and now she was hugging him too. "You're not. You're just very special."

"Only guy in the whole universe like me. I feel so privileged," he said and now he was crying and Jimmy and J'onn were watching and he felt stupid.

"Look, CK," Jimmy said starting to step away from the island.

"You move and I will rip your arms off and that's where I start," he said, pulling himself together.

"Yeah, mood swings are pretty crazy, right James?" Kara asked, patting his shoulder.

His mom frowned at him but stepped back, coming to stand by J'onn. "Are you a little more settled?"

He nodded. "I'm not actually going to rip anyone's arms off," but he was tempted. Stupid Jimmy. He didn't have to carry whatever children he and Kara had, in eighty years, magically from a stork. He wasn't going to grow boobs. Yeah, maybe him having just the one arm would even things out.  
>Chloe shook her head and stroked his shoulder. "No killing Jimmy. It's not nice to kill your cousin's boyfriend."<p>

"He doesn't have boobs."

"No, but I'm also not 6'3 and I can't set things on fire or explode them without trying. See, we all have our drawbacks."

Clark sighed and rubbed his arms. "It's getting cold, do you want to, uh…go ahead J'onn."

The Manhunter nodded and gave him a cursory exam and then questioned Chloe about everything that had happened that morning. He nodded finally for Clark to slip on his sweatshirt and he'd rarely been happier in his whole life. Frowning, J'onn shook his head. "You're expressing very early."

"I'm what?"

"Making milk," Chloe supplied.

"A human wouldn't secrete actual milk until the baby was born."

"I'm just lucky then."

"I think it's a sign that you're going to go into labor very soon. I would say any day now, even today."

Clark paled and grabbed Chloe's hand. Despite his glib attitude in the face of having those things whose name he wasn't going to even think, he was terrified of giving birth. He didn't want to die, even for a little while and he didn't want Chloe to suffer. It just felt too soon.

"Are you sure?"

J'onn nodded. "I would bet within the week, no more than two."

"But I'm just at 32 weeks."

"And this is what I know is going to happen."

"But-"

Chloe squeezed his shoulder again. "It makes sense. You said that the Numan's wife went into labor very early too. I expected as much. No worries. Sooner it happens, sooner I work my mojo and Kon's here and not actually kicking you."

"Thanks, Chlo."

"No problem," she replied. "But we have to talk about something even more dire."

"What's more serious than that?"

"Oh, I know." Kara said and she was smirking. "You're going to need a bra."

"No I'm not."

"Not for support, dummy. I'm still the most endowed cousin by a lot." And she was creepy proud of that and Jimmy's less-than-subtle glance at her chest made him revise his arm-ripping-off plan.

"Kara, honey," his mom chided. "Don't brag."

"I don't need that thing anyway," Clark grumped.

"Clark, did you read the parts about breast feeding?" Chloe asked.

"I skipped those because I'm a guy and it didn't apply to me."

"Just like the entire pregnancy thing didn't?" Jimmy added in his usual oblivious way.

"Fine, but I still skipped that part. Why?"

"You could express for a lot of reasons-being stressed, hormone fluxes, and, well, if you hear a baby crying, mainly Kon, but any would do it," Chloe supplied with the same expertise she explained about the latest meteor mutant menace.

"But I have superhearing and could probably pick up on every baby in Smallville if I tried and even if I let it wander."

"That's the point sweetheart," his mother said. "Either you get one or wear about three shirts everywhere you go in order to keep your shirts from turning green for no reason."

"Oh, that would be bad," he said, his mind still blown by the thought of having to buy one of those, even if it was something modified for nursing and he was going to have to do that for a year and the hormones would still be high and he was staying a girl and it was going to suck and wait…

Chloe quirked her head at him. "You're smiling. What changed?"

He looked around and leaned up to whisper into her ear, "The sex is about ten times better for me with the hormones. It's almost worth it."

Chloe shook her head and kissed him before whispering back. "You know that's a total guy answer, right?"

"Damn straight."  
>****<p> 


	35. Chapter 36

36

"Clark, I don't know why you insisted on coming with me," Chloe said, sighing as she undid her seatbelt.

He shrugged and let his hands ease up from their grip on the steering wheel. Apparently, he could move the seat of the truck back enough for driving. It wasn't all that comfortable and most of his stomach was squeezed a bit underneath the steering wheel but it was doable. "I thought J'onn said we had to be near to each other all the time."

"And that makes it sound like a Siamese twin thing," she said. "Clark, Kara and Jimmy and Lois are all already up there with my stuff and we could have used Lois's SUV. It would have been done in about two hours without you. Hell, we could do it faster but it would look funny if Kara popped in there and five minutes later all my stuff was gone."

"I know."

"So why did you pull the alpha male bit and insist that you get to come along."

He sighed and tapped the steering wheel. "Because it feels wrong making you do all the work."

"Excuse me?"

"I just, I'm the fiance..." and that sounded kind of weird out loud but he liked it. "...and I should be helping you move and doing all that stuff with my, what did you call them? Phenomenal cosmic powers. I making you do all the packing stuff."

"Jimmy, Lois, and Kara agreed to be my minions for the day so it's not all that bad. Second, you really shouldn't-"

He rolled his eyes, "Lift anything, go anywhere, breathe in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide."

"You do that?"

"Pretty sure on the last one. I mean, I need air but I'm not sure what I breathe out," he shook his head. "Don't distract me. It won't work."

"It always works. I need something shiny or possibly Lana-shaped."

"Not funny," he groused. "I just hate feeling like this invalid or this burden for everybody."

"You're not."

"I feel that way. I'm not a moron. I know that I can't lift anything as pregnant as I am, and that's still weird to say. It's just that I can be the guy who lets you borrow his truck and drives the stuff home. I know Kara and the Manhunter will just move all the boxes anyway. I just want to do one normal thing today. Come on, this morning I was combing through the pile of those torture devices you and Kara picked up at the K-Mart."

"See, bras are not fun."

"I hate that word," he said. "But I need to do one normal, completely human guy thing right now or I'll go crazy. I'm not asking to go to a Shark's game and sit on the fifty yard line. All I'll do is wait in the car for half an hour in a back alley. This is how sad my life is that this is the possible highlight of my week."

Chloe glared at him, "So the mind-blowing sex where you floated totally didn't register?"

"You know what I mean," he said. "That was awesome but not exactly, um-"

"Normal? I'm a mutant and you're an alien. How was it going to be normal?" She defended.

"No, not you. You're great. That glowing trick? Totally does the same thing for my ego that me floating does for you. But I just want to do something normal today, please, Chlo."

She sighed and nodded, kissing his cheek. "If you felt that bad about all of it...well Jimmy can always pretend he understands football and you can watch games when you get back."

"He does get confused between first down and a touchdown."

"But he tries," she said, patting his shoulder. "That totally settles it. Lois, Kara and I will do girl things somewhere in Girlvania, possibly with nail polish, and you and Jimmy can eat Nachos and grunt at barbarians and jockstraps."

"Yeah, now you're getting it."

She chuckled and hopped out of the car. "I'll be back in about half an hour. Keep the heat on, but really, you should just go to the farm and let us handle it."

"I'm good."

"Fine, but if anything happens, Kara has her ears perked up for you. Just say her name."

He smiled, "She's getting very good at the hearing. She can pick up on my heartbeat like I could with hers when she was sick in Metropolis. She'll take good care of me." Chloe quirked her head at him. "What?"

"You really do love her."

"Of course, she's my family, but she annoys the Hell out of me."

"That's about how I explain Lois and Lucy," Chloe replied shutting the door. "Okay, Kon, you're in charge because you're clearly smarter than daddy."

"Hey!"

"Look, he clearly never liked Lana all that much. I think his kicking and getting you couch exiled was part of a master plan."

"He was five months old."

"My son's a genius," she quipped. "Listen to him and stay out of trouble." And with that, she headed up the stairs of the fire escape and to her apartment.

Clark shook his head and fiddled with the radio, finally settling on an alternative rock station he liked. He was hoping that he'd hit on that Life House song in the next few minutes.

"You know, Kon," he added conversationally. It was amazing how one could get used to talking to someone who couldn't answer back in just four short months. "I really, really love you because, buddy, you've made a mess out of me. Oh no, you totally have. I know, look at me. No, superficial stuff doesn't matter. Yes, there is that story about the ugly darnash Aunt Kara told us. Uh-huh. Still, I used to be the strongest man-let me emphasize that beautiful word- man on the planet. Now? Well, I'm still strong, you know, and invulnerable, mostly, but I'm a total wreck.

Oh, and even though sex is evil and wrong and you will never have it, just like Aunt Kara is really a nun in my happy fantasy life, I kind of hope you do. I hope that you have the same luck I do and get to know the wonders of having those things whose name I will not speak. Yup, that will teach you to have sex. I'm thinking of joining a monastery myself after you're weaned. I think it's a good plan, but then your mom does this thing with her tongue that you can never really know about seeing as how you'll grow up to be a perfect eunuch and never give me heart attacks. Anyway, your mom is really persuasive so I wouldn't give up on the sex, but I'm rethinking it.

Kara's right. I'm never sleeping with Squirrels again. It's a bad plan, a non-plan really."

Clark sighed and focused his X-ray vision, frustrated when it flickered just a little before activating. He wasn't going to tell Chloe about that one. It was just his problem. He didn't need to see through everything, anyway. It's just that he liked to and that he'd miss watching Kon when it went. Of course, if J'onn were right, then Kon might just show up any minute anyway.

Looking at his son, Clark smiled. Kon, per usual, didn't really listen to his rants, but was curled up asleep, his hands occasionally fluttering as he slept. "It's an excellent thing you're cute," he replied. "I wouldn't do this for just anyone, you know."

"Clark, who are you talking to?"

Clark felt a chill sneak into his bones that had nothing to do with the the cold Christmas-time weather. Looking up from his stomach, like that wasn't incriminating enough, he turned toward the driver's side window. Standing on the other side of it was Lex Luthor.

Lex was smiling that same charming smile that graced The Planet's Page Six week in and week out. It was a dazzling one, to be sure. Something that he'd used to bed half the debutantes in the country and all of the ones in Europe by now, but when you really knew him, you could see the cold hauteur underneath. The charm Lex was exuding was no more real that Clark's birth certificate. "Clark?"

Clark had a few options that he was evaluating then. One, he could gun the engine and pretend that he hadn't noticed Lex, which probably wouldn't work since they'd made prolonged eye contact. Two, he could try lying. Considering his track record with lying, the gunning for Mexico option seemed better and then Lex went and proved how big a moron Clark was.

He started to open the door, "Seriously, are you alright?"

Clark tugged the door back and was surprised at the effort it took. Yesterday, he could shatter wood and, today, for a few brief panic stricken moments, he though Lex was going to overpower him and open the door. With the way he looked now, there was no lie good enough to hide a full view of his stomach. Finally, thankfully, he slammed the door shut and managed to lock it, which he'd forgotten to do after Chloe'd left.

Lex frowned, "Roll down the window."

Clark did as he was asked, "Uh, hi Lex." And it amazed him how everything being so off-kilter could send him back to high school. He was good at accusations and righteous indignation. He should work from that vantage point. Practically squeaking hello was not a good way to convince Lex to mosey on through.

"Clark, what are you doing here?"

"It's The Talon and I like muffins."

"No, this is the alleyway behind The Talon and your sitting alone in your car talking to no one."

"Sometimes I think out loud. It helps me work through my problems," although it had been unable to help him solve the whole pregnancy thing. Apparently, you couldn't talk your way out of that one.

Lex nodded and then narrowed his eyes at him. "How's Lana? I've heard so many rampant rumors from the news and my contacts in Washington."

"You're what?"

"Oh, I have a vested interest in watching Martha work. If things had gone differently, that would have been my senate seat after all. Besides," he said, looking down pointedly to get a better view of Clark's stomach. "I'm interested in the whole Kent family."

Clark swallowed and pressed himself as close to the steering wheel as he dared, hoping it would hide Kon better. "Lana's feeling much better," he lied. "The doctors have put her under constant supervision and she and the baby are going to be just fine. We're expecting her to go into labor any minute actually."

"That's wonderful to hear. I've been so concerned for her. I know what a mess we made with our divorce, but we've gotten so much closer these last few months at fundraisers. ISIS is such a wonderful organization."

Clark gulped. She couldn't have. J'onn swore she hadn't and they'd destroyed every record she'd ever collected about Kon, Kara, or him. "I suppose it is."

"It's mission statement, it's vision-helping the meteor-infected. That's remarkable of her, don't you think, after all the times something less than human has hurt her." Lex's gaze intensified and Clark shivered.

"Meteor mutants aren't like that, not all of them."

Lex smiled a cruel smile. "Chloe, you mean? She's even more exceptional than Lana, isn't she? There isn't another mutant in the entire Smallville menagerie-"

"Don't you say anything like that about her," he growled and was surprised when he still had enough strength to snap the steering wheel slightly.

Lex's smirk grew. "Of course, we're perfectly normal and upstanding members of society. The mutated population of Belle Reve is a fluke."

"Chloe's not like that. She's not ever going to be like that or like you."

"Oh, throwing that back, are we? I think everyone knows just what I am thanks to the first shower but I'm not like the masses either. I'm a Luthor and I'm better."

"Right, in the torturing arts, you guys are masters, congratulations."

"Touche. I merely meant that I've never seen a mutant who can heal as she does, not just herself, but she can raise the dead. The secret of immortality in one annoying blonde package."

"You're delusional. Chloe hasn't manifested anything. You're doctors told you so and you let her go."

"And I have a free range program, Clark. Do you think I want to put all of my subjects in tiny cages?"

"Yes."

"No, that's pointless. The most interesting ones? The ones I want to follow the most closely? No, they're much more fun to watch stumble through their lives, pretending to be everything that they are not. I've enjoyed watching Chloe's relationship with that idiot photographer fall apart because of what she is. I've loved watching her back off from every lead of Lowell County and have her cousin be promoted ahead of her. I wasn't even all that surprised when she quit."

"You blacklisted her."

"Mostly, but Chloe...don't kid yourself, Clark. I know what goes on in my city and in my hometown. I know more than enough about Chloe. Ironically, I might not have put all the pieces together if she hadn't healed me herself, but I have. She stays free because I let her. I think that's an important lesson for you to learn."

"That you're a vicious sociopath who's gunning for Chloe? No, I learned that two years ago."

Lex laughed and patted Clark's shoulder in a gesture of the camaraderie they no longer shared. Clark scooted back but not before he felt the tiniest hint of something touch his skin. "You really don't want to touch me."

"Fair enough," Lex replied, pulling his hand back. "But no, I wasn't referring to that lesson, which you've gotten wrong."

"No I haven't."

"Yes, you have. The lesson that you need to learn, Clark, is that the people and things that live in Smallville are at my mercy."

"You're not in charge of anything yet, not really. Just a company you stole from your father."

"The original bastard. I've noticed he's welcome at your table."

"Barely and not because I want him there," Clark admitted truthfully. "You're not in control of everything like I think you are."

Lex laughed again. "No, I very much am. I control your horizontal and your vertical, Clark."

"What?"

"Tell the line to Kara, she'll get it and then you'll know," he replied. "It's odd."

"What's odd?"

"Chloe, leaving her job, moving out today and onto Kent farm. I've been to your house, Clark-"

"Our mistake for ever letting you on it."

Lex rocked back a little and when he spoke again all the mirth was gone from his voice. "I can't imagine Lana would be happy to have Chloe horning in again. She was very vocal about how Chloe was trying to take over the pregnancy, make it about her, drive you two apart. And now she's moving in. Is it a bed built for three?"

"She's sharing a room with Kara," he said. "Lana wanted her friend there while she was sick and for the delivery and recovery afterwards. It's not that odd."

"No, I guess it's not. Tell me, are you two fucking?"

"Excuse me?" he demanded, reminding himself not to crush anything.

"You heard me. You know, don't you, how could you not? You know what Lana and I were doing. Whatever kind of relationship you two tried to cobble together for the sake of your son, it's a farce."

Clark was so very angry then and it was a good thing that his heat vision had apparently burned itself out at the reservation. Those words it close to home because it had been a farce, just not from his end. He'd tried very hard to make all of it work for Kon's sake and because, once upon a time, he'd loved Lana desperately. But now, the thought of her, of her willingly poisoninghis child.

She made him even madder than Lex did.

"Go away, Lex."

"Do you want a trade? I'll let Lana come live in the mansion. She used to be over there every night anyway and we both know it. Then Chloe can start paying you the rest of the lease she owes me, make it so that farm of yours turns a profit."

"Shut up!" he growled and then Kon kicked, really kicked and it hurt. Clark gasped and doubled over as best he could.

Lex smelled the blood in the water and kept pushing. "Broken down farmer, just like your father, and both of you so over impressed with yourselves with how great you are. Jonathan loved to sermonize and be holier than thou. What do you think he'd say to you now, Clark?"

"Just shut up," he hissed and Kon kicked again and something sounded wrong. God, did something tear?

"Now you have a bastard child, the laughing stock of Washington, and the mother was warming my bed. He probably wouldn't even be able to look you in the eye anymore. His approval was so very conditional, wasn't it?"

God, everything hurt, the pain was flaring through him and Kon still wouldn't stop. Why would he? This was the most upset Clark had ever gotten, because Lex was telling the truth. He loved his father more than anything, but his father would be ashamed of what had become of him, of what he'd been reduced to. His eyes clamped shut in pain, all Clark could see was his father's back turned to him in a hospital room in which a very different Kent baby had died.

"You're not good enough for him either and you know it."

"Fuck you!" He shouted and this time he did hear something tear. He wasn't imaging it. Kon kicked again and the whole windshield shattered, the glass falling inward cutting the skin of his face and Clark wasn't even surprised to find that he wasn't invulnerable anymore.

It hurt.

He fell to his side and started screaming, "Get Kara. Please, Lex, if you've done one decent human thing in your miserable life, get her. Kara!"

And then it was so blurry from there. There was pain and people passing in and out of his field of vision. Lex was still there. He and Chloe were arguing. He grabbed her arm and then the strap of her ugly purse-the one that reminded him of a fraggle that she'd got at some lame thrift store in Metropolis with her mother-and then they were yelling again.

Kara was sitting beside him and she was saying things so low that only he could hear because his hearing wasn't gone. It was still acute and, thank God, Kon's heart was still very strong.

"Shh, little cousin, it's not what you think. I...it's not started yet. One or two things, small veins, just a handful tore, but it's not time, I promise. Chlo, get rid of him!"

"I'll do it," Lois said and where the Hell he and Jimmy had materialized from Clark had no clue.

Lois grabbed Lex by his elbow and started manhandling him to the front of the alley, "Come on, Cue Ball."

Clark was just collected enough to peer out and watch Lex as he left. The other man was no longer cocky or confident. He was worried. Lex was glancing back at Clark. From his vantage point, he couldn't make out his stomach, but he could see him writhing. Was Lex sweating?

"He's going to be alright, isn't he, Kara?"

And it worried him that he knew to ask the nineteen year old barista that,

"Just go, Lex, or Lois will be the least of your problems," his cousin shot back.

"I...please take good care of him."

"Just get out, Lex!" Chloe shouted as he and Lois disappeared around the corner with Jimmy trailing behind them. "Clark?" Chloe asked, "I just need you to be still for a minute, please."

"No, don't."

"It's not what you think. It's little things. It's not time," Kara told Chloe. "But Kon would do better if..."

Chloe nodded and he could already feel the warmth spread over his stomach as she healed both of them. "Shh, Clark, I'm going to take of my family. It's okay."

"I...but," he objected weakly, fading into unconsciousness.

But not before he thought about Lex's final words. They'd been those of a concerned friend, which Lex had once been, as much as Clark tried to deny it. Their tone, however, was wrong. Lex hadn't sounded like a concerned friend at all. He sounded as he had those times when Clark had caught him on the end of an intense phone call with shareholders.

He sounded like a man terrified of losing his investment.

And that, more than what Lex had hinted at or what the other man had seen, scared Clark more than anything.


	36. Chapter 37

37

Rubbing his stomach, Clark blinked up at J'onn. "Was I out long this time?"

"No, Kal-El," the Martian replied gruffly. "You've been back from The Talon for merely half an hour."

"Is Chloe?" he asked, his heart speeding a little at the thought.

"Chloe is fine. She's sore and grouchy, but she's resting in Kara's room."

"Can you get her for me?"

"I will but first we're going to talk, Kal-El."

Clark gulped. He'd learned enough with his mother to know that when an authority figure insisted on saying your full name, you were in trouble. Somehow, he felt the rule applied whether the name in question was Clark Jerome Kent or Kal-El. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"It depends on your definition. I'm certainly not going to do anything to harm you. It's against the vows I've taken, but if you persist in acting as you have, you're going to hurt yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"I warned you about being on bed rest for the last few months, and I told you this morning that you're ready to deliver at any moment and you still went into town."

"I know, but you don't understand."

J'onn crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't?"

"No, I...it's complicated," he said, looking down at Kon. In retrospect all the arguments he'd made to Chloe seemed stupid. What did it matter if he felt more like a normal guy for a few brief moments if he lost his son. J'onn wouldn't buy it either. "I just wanted to do something like I used to."

"And you put yourself right in the middle of Lex Luthor's sights. He saw you."

"I know."

"You gave him the opportunity to watch you get sick and to, perhaps, see all he needed to about your condition. How could you take a risk like that?"

"I'm just tired!" He snapped. "I'm sick of being pregnant and of being on bed rest and being a sideshow. I just needed something to try and make me feel better about what happened this morning. I wanted to be a normal guy for five minutes."

J'onn sighed. "You're not and every risk you take endangers not only your son but everything that your mother and father, Lionel, and I have done for you."

"You're not my father. Do you even know what it's like?" It was an automatic objection, spurned on by having so many surrogate father figures in his life. He had loved his dad more than almost anyone. He didn't need the AI and Lionel and now J'onn vying for the title.

The sag of J'onn's shoulders surprised him. "I had a son once, Kal-El."

Clark narrowed his eyes and for the first time, he realized that he didn't know all that much about J'onn except for the fact that he had been a bounty hunter for Jor-El and that he was a Martian. "Once?"

J'onn smiled sadly, "You and Kara are not the only ones who can claim to be the last of your race."

Clark's mouth fell open. Honestly, he and J'onn originally only saw each other when pursuing phantoms and that had hardly been the time to play twenty questions. Then, J'onn had become, in the oddest quirk of circumstances, his doctor. Chloe knew far more about the other man's personality than he did, and, until this moment, he'd never even thought of J'onn as a family man.

"You're what?"

"There was a plague on my planet that was unleashed while I was helping your father. By the time I came home, there was no one left."

Clark hazarded a glance at him, "Did you...you found them?"

J'onn nodded. "I didn't know anything was wrong until I arrived home and then you can guess what I saw."

"Your whole family?"

"Everyone," J'onn replied evenly. "I lost my wife, my son, and my daughter. I know what it is to have a family and what it feels like to lose them. I have no interest in losing you and Kon-El also."

"What were they like?" Clark asked.

J'onn smiled just a little, "My son was hard-headed just as you are. Your attitude has left me a bit nostalgic."

"Oh. J'onn, I know I said that at Oliver's apartment, but I'm sorry that I've taken you for granted."

"Have you?"

"Now you're just being amused."

"Perhaps a little. I can come off as closed off and tough. It is an image I've purposely portrayed for you, the cop demeanor that has been mine for decades."

"You don't look that old."

"Neither will you in a century, Kal-El."

Clark gulped. "I...do you think Kon will live as long as we do?"

"I don't know that. Despite what you found with the Kawatchee, no one knows exactly how Kon-El's gifts will manifest. If you and Watchtower were to ever have a child together-"

Clark shook his head. "Oh man, Chloe is not ready for that. She's insisting on having at least one Pulitzer, maybe two, before she gets stretch marks."

J'onn laughed. "I'll have a harder time putting her on bed rest than you."

"I just...when my life calms down a little, which is probably never, I'd like for us to spend time together that doesn't involve escaped intergalactic criminals or childbirth." Clark groaned. "Why does my life involve sentences like this?"

"Because you are fortunate, I suppose," J'onn replied smirking. "Are you suggesting we grab a beer together."

Clark frowned, "I don't think I can drink and nurse at the same time and I never actually liked the taste of that stuff. Can it be Coke?"

"Very well then."

"I guess I never expected you to be so normal."

"It's a qualified term with us."

"Well, I meant well-adjusted with a family and favorite movies and all the inside jokes you seem to have with Chloe. Honestly, I spent the first four months after I found out I was pregnant, thinking of ways to avoid the telepath."

"You assumed I would turn you over to the Fortress."

"You would have if we hadn't figured out it was seriously screwed up."

"I might have, but only because the Fortress would have been in your best interest if it had all four stones. The technology it has access to would have ensured safe childbirth."

"I know, but I like the chock full of free will trade-off that Kon and I are making."

"Do not avoid me again, Kal-El," J'onn replied, all humor gone from his voice. "I'm not going to betray you to the Fortress. I swear that I'm as invested in keeping you and your child safe as your mother is."

"I believe that now."

"Then please stop taking risks. You can have free movement throughout the house, but you can't go into town and I don't advise leaving the bed for extended periods of time. Based on Kon-El's performance today, I sincerely believe that you will deliver within the next three days."

Clark gripped his stomach tighter. Even if Chloe could save them, he didn't like being reminded that soon he'd be technically dead. "Really?"

"It's coming soon, Kal-El. It's best for all concerned if you rest."

"And avoid evil billionaires?"

"That goes without saying," he replied. "Chloe's feeling better. Do you want for me to send her in as your next visitor?"

"I...could I talk to Lionel and my mom first?"

"Is this a matter for the Oracle or has Kara finally talked you into taking the trust fund?" J'onn asked and the faintest of smirks was back on his face.

"I have no secrets anymore," Clark moaned. "I keep saying this. We're too close as a family and, for the record, it's Oracle business. I haven't decided what to do with the money."

"It is a matter of time before you take it."

"You don't know that."

"I know what I would do if I wanted to secure my own children's futures. You'll take it. It's just a matter of how long it will take to wear down your pride."

"I'm that transparent?"

"You might be the most predictable man I've ever met outside of your father."

"Jor-El," Clark corrected.

"No, I meant Jonathan."

Clark frowned. "You've never met my father."

"Not as John Jones, no, but did you really think it was blind luck that you ran into a park ranger the day you first got your speed?"

"That was you?"

He nodded, "I have been caring for you for a very long time, Kal-El. That was the only time I was ever able to interact with your parents and it was no more than handing you back to them and filing paper work, but I have watched for years. I saw the family you were given and I was glad for it. I could not have done as good a job as Martha has. It was what you needed."

"For what?"

"One day, Clark, you will be the leader your birth father hope for and that Jonathan Kent knew was there before he died. Everything that is happening with Kon-El has merely delayed the inevitable."

"Inevitable world conquest?"

"You haven't believed that mistranslation in years. You're going to do great things, things that will dwarf Oliver's efforts, and we both know that."

"I wish I felt half as sure of my destiny as you do."

"Well that's why I'm here and the Oracle and, as fate would have it, your mother. We know. Kon-El's important, and we all know how much you love him, but Chief Joseph is right. You can't use him as an excuse to hide on the farm."

"I wasn't."

"No need to sound so indignant. It's your M.O. You should have moved past Jonathan's death by now."

"I could never do that. Do you want me to forget my father?"

"No, but there are duties that come first. I could have lost myself in grief after I lost my family but I have continued to care for you, to protect my adopted world. It is something for you to think about for after Kon is weaned and you're healthier."

"You know you and Chloe and my mom and Chief Joseph all sound alike."

"Then we have nothing but the truth to offer you. I am beginning to enjoy the chief as well. Perhaps you'll listen to him."

"Hey! I can listen," Clark objected.

J'onn shook his head as he looked down at his stomach. "No, Kal-El, you have not proven that you can. Just get some rest. I think the both of you are under enough stress as it is without mishaps like today," he said as he exited out the door.

"My mom?"

J'onn looked over his shoulder, "Both your mother and the Oracle will be up soon. Try and rest."

"God, I can't wait to stop being an invalid."

The Manhunter paused and turned back to him. "Kara mentioned that your face had lacerations on it from the windshield. You're no longer invulnerable, are you?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I give you 36 hours. Try and sleep a little. Your son needs it."

Clark didn't sleep. He spent the next twenty minutes staring at Kon, enjoying his X-ray vision, no matter how much it flickered in and out. In a few days, he wouldn't need it to see his son and it wouldn't matter, but this view, like his hearing, was something that bonded him to his son in a way that a human parent never could be and he relished it.

Kon, oblivious as always to his father's scrutiny, merely slept. It was still the cutest damn thing Clark had ever seen and he smiled every time his son moved. "You, Kon, are making all sorts of problems for your daddy. No more kicking, okay? Let's just wait a few more days and then you can kick your crib as much as you want."

Kon didn't even move.

"I know you can hear me," Clark groused. "You just don't want to give up your favorite pastime for the good of my maybe-kidneys. Now you're just being selfish."

"Clark, baby?" His mother asked gently. "J'onn said you were ready for visitors."

"I am," he replied pushing himself up against the headboard, trying to look healthier than he felt. "Is Lionel outside?"

She nodded, "You're not Listening?"

"I'm only focusing on Kon's heartbeat. It takes up a lot of my time," he admitted. "I wanted to talk to both of you."

"Then you've gotten your wish," Lionel said, stepping into his room and pulling out Clark's desk chair for his mother.

His mom smiled at him and he fought back the surge of anger he felt at seeing that look. It wasn't the same but it was very similar to all the adoring glances she'd given his father over the years. It just didn't belong with Lionel and, honestly, Clark wasn't sure if he felt that way because it was Lionel or because it wasn't for his dad. Somehow, even with the mountain of issues between him and the older man, Clark realized he'd still feel angry if his mom looked at J'onn or Chief Joseph or the recently widowed Montana junior senator or the mailman like that.

Why did his mom have to move on?

Why didn't he want her to?

"Sweetheart?"

"Sorry, I was thinking," he replied, patting his stomach. "I think all the hormones make me wistful."

"It's fine," she said, smiling at him and taking his hand. The whole scene made him feel more terminal than he actually was.

"Mom, hey."

"That was an astute start," Lionel noted with some amusement.

"Sorry, it's been a long two days so being articulate doesn't work for me so much. I just wanted to talk to both of you."

"Are you going to apologize for scaring all of us?" Lionel prodded.

"I didn't mean to do anything to scare my mom," he amended. "I didn't know Lex was going to be there."

"Quite," Lionel said, frowning. "I can't remember the last time he was at The Talon either. He hasn't been interested in the property since Lana sold her share of it."

"I know," Clark admitted. "Every time he's been there since she went to Paris, it was because she was with him, and the odds of us meeting like that. He timed it. He knew we were going to be there."

"It might have been because he knew Chloe was moving out," his mother mused. "He might have been hoping to catch you and it was a gamble considering how close Chloe was to talking you out of going."

"But he shouldn't be hoping to run into me at all. Lionel?"

"Yes, son?"

Clark sighed. "I...just Clark, please. Do you have anyone on Lex anymore, anyone who knows what he's up to?"

"I don't. Lex has upped his security measures and is far more circumspect about whom he keeps in his inner circle these days. It's justifiable paranoia but it works against us."

Clark bit back the urge to remind Lionel that a lot of that paranoia had to do with Lex's father using his various girlfriends and fiances against him as spies. He'd done it with Victoria, Helen, and Lana and it was hardly any wonder Lex didn't allow anyone at his side these days.

"I was afraid of that. Kara and Chloe swore he didn't see me from the chest down at least. I think he knows a lot. He was outright accusing me of things. J'onn swears that Lana didn't tell him or at least she hadn't when we transfered her to Argentina. Do you think she's gotten the message out to him since then?"

"Not possible. Dinah's been on her for months, baby. She's possibly more capable and intimidating that Chloe." His mother added, smiling. "Oliver has certainly found quite a sidekick."

"Partner," Clark corrected. "I don't like the sidekick term. Chloe and I are equal. Her superpowers are even better than mine even."

His mother laughed and squeezed his hand but he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She must not have slept much in the last day with all his fainting spells. "I hope so."

"Clark, I'll see what I can do. It's why I needed Lana in position in the first place, but I can try and position some spies on Lex. I cannot guarantee anything."

"Thanks," Clark said, stroking his belly. "Kon and I appreciate it."

"Well, if that's all the business. I suppose it would be best if I retired down stairs."

"Lionel, wait."

The older man sat back down but frowned at Clark. "For what? Have you finally decided what to do with the trust fund?"

Clark blushed and looked between his mother and Lionel's expectant faces. "I haven't, honestly. I think Kara might set me on fire if I don't say yes and I know what a great opportunity it is. Honestly, it's not even about the fund being Luthor money. If Ollie had offered the same thing, I'd still hesitate. Hel...Heck, we all know that if I wanted, I could have fenced millions of dollars worth of diamonds for Kon by now. It's more that he's already growing up with superpowers and, thanks to Aunt Kara's big mouth, he has a whole reservation of people wanting to worship him like a god. I think adding millionaire playboy to his resume is a lot."

"Clark, he wouldn't have to know it existed until he turned twenty-one. I can set up the account so he never knows it exists."

"But it does and one day he could take advantage of it."

"And if tomorrow you found out you had millions of dollars at your disposal would you become the man that Oliver Queen pretends to be? Would you have a blonde in every state and an incredible reputation as a lush?"

"Of course not."

"Why not?"

"Because my mom would kill me."

"You're twenty-one years old, almost twenty-two, how would that be any different for Connor when he becomes your age. He has Martha and J'onn and Miss Sullivan and you and even his assorted aunts and Mr. Olsen trying to teach him how to be a responsible human being, term intended."

"Except for Kara. She has things backwards and loves money."

"But she's as honorable as any member of your House. The money wouldn't change him after two decades of Martha's discipline and you know that."

Clark sighed and looked at his mother, willing her to understand. "I just need more time to think about it. I swear it's not about it being all your money, Lionel."

"But you're still uncomfortable with your mother's relationship with me."

"Clark, sweetheart-"

"No, I know and I do and that's unfair of me to expect my mom to never date again, but it's a lot to take in even though I did suspect it a little. I don't like the thought of anyone trying to replace my dad."

"And I'm not."

"I know that's not some master plan of yours and that you've been a good ally to me and worked well with J'onn and a dozen other things. It's just hard to adjust to. I'll get there, but it won't happen overnight."

"I didn't expect it to, baby, but I am glad you're trying."

He sighed. "Like I said, you didn't tell me who to date either. I don't want to do anything to make you unhappy."

"You couldn't unless you keep going out and getting sick," his mom said, leaning forward to sweep his bangs off of his forehead.

"I won't but I do want to do something and I want to do it soon, like tomorrow."

"Son, we just established that you wouldn't go out."

"No, it's not an out thing," he said, letting the nickname slip go. He needed Lionel's cooperation for his plans to work. "I...what does it mean that you're the Oracle?"

"Excuse me?"

"What does it mean? I know it meant that before everything with Fine that you got messages from the Fortress and that it could give you powers sometimes. What does it mean now?"

"I'm not linked to the AI as I was. It couldn't use me to spy on you," he replied, his tone short.

"Clark!" His mother shouted, frowning at him.

"No, I didn't mean that," he corrected. "I wanted to know...well," and he was beet red by now, he knew it. "Do you know about Kryptonian history and customs too?"

"Some of them," Lionel admitted, stroking his beard. "What custom were you thinking about in particular?"

"I...things might not go right with the birth. Even if Chloe can save us, there's no guarantee she can recover."

"Clark, it's not good to think like that," his mother admonished.

"I'm being realistic. Maybe it's silly and sentimental, but could you possibly, that is do you know about the customs we had for-"

His mother's eyes twinkled with recognition. "You want a wedding?"

He blushed again. It sounded a little like a chick thing or possibly an acid trip with the thought of Lionel officiating. "It wouldn't be legal. I know that and after all of this with Lana and Lex is settled and it's okay for me to be seen dating someone who's not Kon's mother," and he hated being in the press's radar then. "We can have a real one and invite the whole League and the tribe and Chloe and Kara's friends from work and everyone. But I'd like something for just the family, especially if..."

"There aren't any ifs, Clark, but if you want to do this, I think we can manage it," she said, quirking her head at Lionel. "Do you know the ceremony?"

"I know one that would work," he offered. "It's not overly complicated."

"Then we can try it?"

"Tomorrow, I assume?"

"Yeah, I need time to recover and to actually ask Chloe. Don't tell Kara if she hasn't already eaves-dropped. If Chloe says no, I don't want the whole family to know I struck out."

"I doubt Miss Sullivan would say no," Lionel replied, shaking his head and heading out the door. "I'll start preparing what I know and consulting with J'onn over the details."

"Thanks, Lionel, and I'll still think about the trust fund. I'm glad that my mother has someone in her life like she has you."

He nodded, "Thank you, son."

Clark sighed when the door shut behind the billionaire. "I wish he didn't add the 'son' part onto everything."

His mother nodded, "Clark, about a wedding-"

"A ceremony really."

"Pick your euphemism, sweetheart. You aren't doing this only because you feel that you should, because your worried about Connor being born out of wedlock."

"No, it's not legal anyway and it's not with Lana."

"I understand that and as much as I love Chloe as a daughter," she grinned. "In fact I love both Sullivan-Lane girls that way, that you need to marry her for the right reasons. I don't approve of rushing into this anymore with her than with Lana."

"I'm not rushing."

"If you weren't so sick, would you still do it?"

"In a heartbeat, mom. She has my bracelet. It means everything important, ask Kara. The ceremony is ancillary, but I feel like I need to do it. I just...if things go wrong, I need to know it happened."

"They won't."

"We don't know that and I want this. She could still say no. She's very gun shy about things and you know that, but this feels right. It feels like we're meant for this. I...she's Kon's mother."

"And a ceremony doesn't make it any more true."

"No, but I want to show her how much she means to me." He stopped and stroked his stomach. "To the both of us. It's not about guilt or trying to make her love me or trying to please her. Chloe would never blackmail me like that. I just want to show her how much she means before I give birth. I think it's right. It feels right."

His mother smiled and nodded, "If you say it like that, then I think she'll say yes to you."

"I hope so. I think I'm sweating already. A bracelet is one thing. The dress and the other stuff seems like a lot more pressure."

"Chloe Sullivan seems to fold under that," his mother deadpanned. "You know the rest of the family only thinks that it's about time."

"I noticed."

She sighed, "Baby, I know you want to marry her because you love her."

"I do."

"You still don't feel guilty about Connor, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kara caught the end of what Lex said. You know it's not true, don't you?"

Clark frowned down at his hands. "I can't imagine dad would be able to look me in the eye by this late in the pregnancy. I did everything wrong. I'd never trade Kon for anything but I got knocked up-"

"Clark!"

He winced, "You know what I mean. I love Kon but he's a bastard and that's not a Kent thing. Grandpa Hiram or dad would be so mad about it."

"I wasn't thrilled with the news at first, Clark, but you're handling it beautifully. I meant that when I said it. He'd be proud."

"That his son is about to give birth and then nurse for a year. I somehow doubt that."

"Your father never judged you for your gifts. It wasn't conditional with him. Lex was grasping at straws because that's the only way Lionel knows how to love him."

"Which isn't then," he said, twisting his sheet in between his hands. "I...nevermind."

"I know why you left that summer."

His head shot up so fast, he almost thought he still had superspeed. "I know and I'm sorry about the baby."

"No, Clark, your father told me what happened at the hospital the day after I was admitted. I kept asking where you were and why you hadn't come to visit. He couldn't hide that from me. He told me then the things he'd said. He would have given anything to take what he said back."

Clark hesitated. "I don't-"

"Baby, it's okay. I understand. I was furious with him when I first heard, but I forgave him. You don't have to pretend it didn't happen to make me feel better."

"I know, but I love him. He messed up but then he came for me. That matters more. I'm not mad at him. I could never be mad at him, but I disappointed him once. He must be so disappointed now."

"I don't believe that either."

"I'm not really...god, look at me," he said gesturing at his swollen chest and the impressive girth he'd collected. "How could he think of me as his son like this?"

"Same way I do. Clark, you made a mistake-not Connor-but how you tried living your life with Lana and since then you've taken responsibility for your decisions. You've done more than that. You're protecting a whole family now, not just Connor but Kara as well and Jackson who was never supposed to be your responsibility. We're nothing but proud of you."

"But Lex-"

"Is wrong, baby," she said, leaning over and hugging him. "Your father would be as proud as I or J'onn or Chief Joseph is. You're a good man ."

"Thanks mom," he replied and his voice was in no way wavering at all. He was more manly than that.

"Anytime, sweetheart. Now do you want to see Chloe?"

"Maybe," he gulped. "Do you think she'll say no?"

"Only at the same time Lois decides to work full time as Lex's bodyguard or Kara develops a fear of heights."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Be so confident, make everything sound okay with just a few words?"

"They have superpowers they dole out when you become a parent. One of them is eyes in the back of your head so you know when certain young men raised in a barn are drinking out of a carton."

"Yeah, sorry."

"And another is to be always right," she said, winking. "You'll get it in a few days."

He snorted. "And Kon will question everything like I did with dad."

"But you'll still feel like you're right," she added. "I'll go get your fiance."

He smiled and patted Kon. "I love hearing that."

"Well I love seeing you smile about it more," she said, before heading out into the hallway to find Chloe.


	37. Chapter 38

38

"Your mom said you guys wanted to see me," Chloe said, sidling up on the bed next to him. She sighed and, predictably, let her hand come to rest on Kon. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Actually, really well-rested too. If you could just give me pick me ups once in a while even when I'm not pregnant, that would be awesome," he said and then he shouted when she slugged him on the shoulder. "What the hell?"

"Don't scare me like that again. It's all 'Don't worry, Chloe.' 'I just want to do one guy thing, Chloe.' 'Let me have a nice conversation with the local villain, Chloe.'"

"I technically didn't ask for that one."

"But that's what happened. Do you know how scared Kara and I were? Do you know how fast I had to pull Lois off of Lex before she earned about seven lawsuits?"

"Would he really sue?"

"Not the point. You almost lost Kon. Don't tell me you didn't. Kara sees better than you do these days. I just...you can't do things like that anymore. I don't care if we have to get some of that bubble wrap and roll you up in it."

"That's a picture right there."

"Clark, I'm serious. No more anything until Kon's born."

"You know that J'onn said that would probably be the 25th or the 26th at the latest."

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him, "So you're saying?"

"About 36 hours," he replied, sitting up as best as he could. "Chlo, everything is pretty crazy right now."

She glared down at his stomach. "You could say that."

"And I know there's a lot of things I've wanted to do before who knows what happens."

"And I keep saying you're not going to die. I happen to be very good at what I do."

He smiled sadly and took her hand between his. "I know, but I don't know what'll happen to you." He reached down and trailed his finger over the turquoise stone in her bracelet. "You already said yes, but I was wondering-"

Chloe's eyes widened when she figured out what he was hinting at. "You want to actually have a wedding or a Kryptonian whatever."

" Nunta , technically, but yeah, that's exactly what I wanted. Lionel knows the ceremony because of his role as my Oracle and Kara has been to more than a few. I wanted to do this, not necessarily so soon and make you feel rushed, but I think it's important."

She frowned, "Is it because of Kon?"

"Kind of," he answered honestly. "But not the way you think. If this hadn't happened, I might never have seen what was right in front of me. I might still be desperately trying to make things work with Lana. This whole thing... he's helped show me who my family is. Oddly enough, Lois and Jimmy are in that mix."

She rolled her eyes. "They are not that bad."

"And I've never been a big fan of either of them. I mean, Jimmy's doing evil things with my baby cousin."

"Oh hypocrisy, thy name is Clark Kent."

"Not hypocritical, just more cautious now. Like Kon needs a little cousin all of a sudden."

"Clark, I think you lost the point."

"And you're great at distracting me. Chloe, I want to marry you because I love you and you're the mother of my child in all the ways that matter."

"I-"

"I need to do it now because I don't know what's going to happen in the next few days but I want to prove how much you mean to me to the rest of our family."

Chloe relaxed and gave him a wry grin, patting Kon as she did it. "I think they might have noticed with all the yelling and everything else over the last few days."

"But the nunta says it without life and death dilemmas. You're weakening to my charms, Chlo, just admit it."

She shook her head. "Alright, but do you have to stand up for it?"

"Not a complete invalid."

"Yeah, right," she snorted. "Okay, but it has to be the abridged version and then back to bed rest."

"When you say 'bed rest,' would that involve..."

"No, I mean you being still and quiet. I swear the hormones went straight to your-"

"Not in front of Kon and I heard that technically doing that stimulates labor."

"If you're a woman. It's the chemicals in the...nevermind. Kon's listening. Last thing I need is for him to have a Lane family vocabulary."

"Oh I'd never want that," Clark replied, laughing. "Okay, so tomorrow?" Chloe surprised him by starting to hop off the bed. "Hey!"

"Sorry, but I have so much to do. There's shoes and a dress...is white okay? How does that work?"

Clark frowned and sifted through the memories in his head that the cave had downloaded him with. "I...we had ceremonial robes that were white. I guess that's good. Don't those technically mean that you haven't?"

"In Emily Post, you so wouldn't get to have a white tux," she replied, grinning at Kon. "However, I think white will work. December and winter and snow and all that. Is this outside?"

He sighed. "Well that would be more authentic."

"And it's 30 degrees outside!"

"Kara is pretty good now with warming ambient air. I think she can keep us toasty and you said it would be a short ceremony. Come on."

"You're whining."

"Is it working?"

"Of course," she said, pulling away again and he pulled harder, forcing her to land to his side. He still had strength enough to match a human guy and Chloe was such a tiny thing. "You cheated!"

"Did not. I think you can spare a few minutes."

"For what?"

He grinned. "I bet we can make Kon explode the new alarm clock."

She smiled back. "I bet we can."

"Knock-knock."

Clark sighed and opened the door. "Jimmy, I thought my mom was coming up."

Jimmy shrugged and shoved the box into Clark's hands. She's helping the professor set up all the chairs outside. Besides, I got commissioned to stand outside the door and wait to help.

"I can dress myself," Clark replied, shuddering at the thought of having Jimmy see him in his boxers.

"Oh very funny," Jimmy said as he closed the door to Clark's bedroom, setting up a boundary between them. Of course, with some effort, Clark was able to still watch a slightly blurry Jimmy on the other side. "Even odds say that you haven't seen your feet in a year, let alone can tie your shoes. When you get that far, I'll never tell the girls you caved."

"Fine," Clark answered, opening up the garment bag and chuckling at the small handmade masking tape label his mother had put on the back. "A maternity tux, of course."

It took a long while and not a few pauses to sit back down on the bed before he put the entire ensemble on. One glance at the cumberbund and the popping of one button via telekinesis when he even tried wrapping it around his waist, vetoed that idea. Sitting back down on the bed for the fifth (or was it the sixth time?), Clark set his shoes down in front of them and made a valiant effort at trying to slip them on pre-tied. When it didn't work, he sighed theatrically. "Jimmy, come back but please never tell Kara or Lois. I don't want them to have any more ammo than they already do against me."

"No problem, CK, just consider it a total cousin-in-law full service thing," Jimmy said, bending down and helping with his shoes. "And I know this never happened."

"I'm just saying. You know I can't wait for this whole thing to be over. It's been a pain the entire time. Not Kon, I mean, just the million and one side effects part. The whole stomach the size of the beach ball thing is completely over-rated."

Jimmy finished up the second shoe and stood up. "I'll keep that in mind for when it's Kara's turn." Jimmy paused then, looking down at his hands when he realized what he'd said, how much he'd let slip. "Or you know, would have had her turn if things weren't so risky."

Clark sighed and struggled with as much dignity as he could (he didn't have much left at this point) to his feet. "You know officially I'm supposed to kill you for everything you've done with Kara over the last months."

"Unofficially?"

"You really love her, don't you?"

He nodded. "It's been over a year now, CK. I figured you'd notice. I'm crazy about her and I've grown even crazier after I learned how amazing she was."

"Traveler groupie?"

"No. I just...she's a superhero. How great is that? She saves people's lives. How could I not love her?"

"Smooth answer."

"I can't lie at all. I can only be smooth with the truth, you know?"

"Definitely. Everything might work out in the end. If Chloe can do it once, I know she'd do it again for both of you. She and Kara have gotten really close since this whole thing started."

"So how many little Kryptonians are we going to be responsible for?"

"Let's start with Kon and see how far we get. I was just saying that you're welcome in the family and we'll find a way to get Kara what she wants but only when she's about sixty years old."

"Hey!"

"Immortality's tricky like that. She's old enough to have sex and not be the nun I know she is by then," Clark replied, patting Jimmy's back.

"Now I heard that, little cousin," Kara replied, sliding in through the door and shrugging at Jimmy. "Everything's ready downstairs. According to the custom a senior member of the House gives Kal away."

"Wait a second. I'm the one being given away?"

"We modified customs since you're the mom," she replied, shrugging.

Clark glared at her and wished he still had his heat vision. "I am not the mother."

She grinned. "You're the one carrying him. We'd have given you white but it's so obvious your virtue got spoiled."

"Kara, honey, remember when we talked about tact?" Jimmy prodded.

"Kal knows it's true. We just modified stuff. Chloe got the bracelet, but Kal gets led to the altar. It's all about compromise. Now scoot. I have cousinly wisdom to spread."

Jimmy sighed and kissed Kara's cheek. "I tried, man."

"I know. Thanks for everything Jimmy and, scratch that last part. I can't handle a mini-Kara just yet."

"I know the feeling," he said before exiting out the door.

"All my children would be angelic and brilliant. I'm worried about Kon. He's going to be awesome but he's going to have to overcome the adversity of having been born half squirrel and half you. He's just going to have to work hard to inherit the better part of the House."

"Oh very funny."

"You insult my kids and I remind you that you had sex with a squirrel, a lot," she chirped, straightening his bow tie. He really did suck at that.

"I'm sorry, Kara, truce?"

"Truce, Kal-El. So, are you ready? On TV bachelors usually have parties. They involve strippers. Jimmy suggested that Lois come out of retirement but then she tried to kill him and I got confused."

Clark blushed. "Lois was undercover once. It's a bad, bad memory. I've tried to block it out ever since. Anyway, I didn't need a party and I can't really get into one like this. When we do it the human way, maybe the Bros and I will do something nuts like go to the Wild Coyote."

"Dream big, Kal," Kara snarked. "Seriously, are you ready to go?"

"Do I have to do anything or say anything? I don't really know how our customs are supposed to go."

"No, Uncle Lionel and I have all of that formal stuff covered. You just need to nod and say yes at the right places. It's pretty close to a human one, just there's the bracelet involved instead of the ring and the ceremony's in Kryptonian."

"Oh, then mom won't-"

"I can translate, don't worry," she said, holding out a crooked elbow. "It's show time, baby cousins, and everyone is waiting to see you."

"I...oh boy."

"Cold hands, now?" She teased as they made it slowly down the stairs.

"It's feet, Kara," he replied tiredly. "And no. I just get nervous in front of crowds."

"It's like four people and they all know you're a spaz already."

"You know that I'm not all that glad you showed up."

"You love me," she chirped, opening the back door and Clark took a moment to wish there were less stairs in his house.

Sighing, he squeezed her shoulder. "I might a little bit, big cousin, but just a little."

"No, everyone loves me. It's so a fact."

"In your record books," Clark said, gulping a little as he stepped out into the backyard. It wasn't anything fancy. He was pretty sure his mom had gotten the folding chairs from the attic, and it wasn't like Lionel and Chloe were standing under anything special. There was no gazeebo, no altar wrapping around anything. It was just his family, including Professor Willowbrook, sitting in a lint watching and Lionel and Chloe standing up in front of them. Chloe was dressed beautifully in a long cream-colored velvet dress. The sleeves were long and ended in bells. It made Clark think a little of The Lord of the Rings with the look.

Although, he bet it was warm.

Clark came to stand as close to Chloe as Kon's impressive circumference would allow and grinned self-consciously down at her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she replied, smirking at him.

Clark was only moderately surprised when Kara came to stand next to him. She was the only person there who wasn't seated and he figured it had to do with her role in the proceedings. Lionel, who had been looking down at the ground, finally lifted his gaze toward Clark and it was then he realized that the other man's eyes were oddly clouded.

He was completely the Oracle then.

Lionel looked out at the small collection of Clark's family and then spoke, his voice coming out in oddly accented Kryptonian. "We've gathered to recognize the newest additions to the House of El."

Kara nodded after he paused and translated for everyone else, her voice a husky alto counterpoint to Lionel's words.

"In this late, cynical age, so many matches have been made by arranged marriage, by the interference of the state." Lionel paused and actually quirked a small smile after looking between Clark and Chloe and then Jimmy and Kara. "The New Council, it appears, has gone back to the old ways, where soulmates are actually chosen by the heart."

Kara blushed as she announced that last part and Jimmy even managed to shrink in on himself. His mother frowned a little at the allusion to the New Council. Clark had to admit it sounded a little pompous, especially since the council consisted of only four people, one of whom had not yet been born.

"Kal-El, last son of your House..." And this time Lionel did smile as he considered Clark's stomach. "At least for another day. Say your vows to your chosen mate."

Kara translated but substituted wife in for mate. Clark paled and then hissed at his cousin in Kryptonian. "I thought you said that I wouldn't have to say anything."

"Nothing formal. Just be honest, little cousin. Come on, don't get stage fright now."

Clark nodded and reached out for Chloe's hand. "Chlo," he said, his voice ringing out clearly in English. "I think we've already been through almost everything together. You've saved my life more times than even I can count and I've saved yours. Your my best friend and the mother of my son." He slipped the bracelet off of her arm and slid it back on, in front of J'onn and Lionel and all the other witnesses. Then, he held out his hand until Kara placed the small velvet box in his palm.

Clark pulled out the modest Cladaugh ring inside, its emerald and diamond stones chips so small that they were barely visible, and slid it onto her ring finger. "I promise to keep saving your life for as long as you live."

Chloe nodded and he was amused that she seemed speechless for the third time in their relationship.

"Chloe of the House of Sull-I-Van, it is your turn," Lionel intoned.

She nodded and gazed lovingly down at the ring on her finger. "Kal-El," and he loved the way he wrinkled her nose at having to be so formal. "I've been here through all of this," and she reached out then to touch Kon, in case there was any question in the family's mind about what 'this' was. "And I'll never go anywhere, even long after our son is safely in this world and grown. I'd be honored to be added to your House."

Kara let out a very girly squeal at that and, in the crowd, his mother laughed and Lois rolled her eyes. Girly outbursts were against their tomboy code.

Lionel nodded and took Clark's hand and placed it over her bracelet. "Then, by the authority of the New Council, I now combine the House of Sull-I-Van and the House of El."

Once Kara had finished the translation she pushed Clark's back. "Now you totally kiss her Kal."

Clark blushed. "My mom's here."

"Kiss her!" his mom yelled out and Lois whooped beside her.

"You should be a crowd pleaser, Clark," Chloe replied, standing up on tip toe and moving around Kon as best she could. Clark leaned down and kissed her chastely (no matter what Kara said, his mom was still there). Kon indicated his excitement by making one of the thinnest branches of the apple tree snap.

A Kryptonian ceremony, an ancient artifact exchanged, and his son moving things with his mind from the womb in Clark's stomach. Yeah, that was his life, and it was perfect, especially now that Chloe was at his side.


	38. Chapter 39

39

"I'm sorry about this. I promise that if our lives ever calm down that I'll take you on an actual honeymoon."

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him. "So there's a time that our lives will calm down so much that you won't be an intergalactic traveler and I won't be a meteor mutant and Ollie won't handout top secret assignments like Blow Pops?"

"Maybe?"

"Besides, the draws of Paris or Bermuda or Disneyworld aside, there's nothing I'd rather do than sit on your mom's sofa."

"Yeah, I've found it a lot more exciting than all the capitals of Europe."

"Like I was going to ask for something big and flashy. I was thinking that something just quiet would do, although, I kind of doubt we'd ever get that."

"We can go for five minutes without being interrupted by Bros things or meteor-infected people or Lex's stuff."

"Actually," she replied, letting a hand stray over the swell of his belly. "I was thinking that if we ever got one, it would be for three people."

"Mom and Kara could look after Kon for a few days. They seemed to have done well with me except for that time Kara dropped me on my head."

Chloe's eyes widened, "She actually did that?"

"It was just the one time."

She snorted. "That explains so much."

"I'm totally fine. I don't have brain damage no matter what Kara thinks," he replied, petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest, then frowning when he noticed how dumb that looked with them resting on top of Kon.

"Uh-huh. There's no way you'd let yourself even be in Granville without the munchkin. It would not be a 'Dear Penthouse' kind of week."

"My life is so different than eight months ago."

Chloe, despite everything, smirked. "'Dear Penthouse, sometimes I have this problem setting my headboard on fire..."

He reached out and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Kon could hear that!"

"He doesn't know the difference. Of course, you have a point. You're very domestic now."

"And totally housebound."

"Couch bound really. I didn't think you had it in you to get back up the stairs, take off the tux and then waddle-"

"Hey!"

"It totally looks like that, Kal," Kara chirped from where she and Jimmy were sitting sharing cake in the kitchen.

"Fine, but I'm not an invalid here."

J'onn, who was also eating with his cousin and Jimmy (his mom had made something with tons of chocolate), shook his head. "Kal-El, things would be easier if you just accepted limitations."

"I don't have those," Clark said, sighing. "I'm just a little under the weather for me right now. Seriously, it wasn't that much to go and down some stairs."

"That's why it took you an hour?" Kara sing-songed.

"Kara, sweetheart, it's not nice to bait your cousin," his mom said, sliding another slice of cake at J'onn.

"I wasn't."

"Kara, you do get that every time you make fun of him, that gives him one more reason to joke with you when you're pregnant," Jimmy replied, smiling and grabbing at her hip.

Clark rolled his eyes at the annoyance he felt welling up. On the one hand, he was very happy for Kara, assuming a successful delivery was even possible for them. On the other, she was his baby cousin (now) and no one should touch her until she was at least a century or seven old. "Right, in a few decades."

"There's the mood swing part I love so much," Chloe replied, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.

"I am not mood swinging. I just...there's hip touching," he hissed to just her.

"And they've been having sleep overs in Metropolis. Do you think they play checkers all that time?"

"In my happy imagination, of course they do!"

"It's a good thing Kon's not a girl. I'd hate to see how many grabby young men you'd have been scaring off from your little girl."

Clark shook his head and placed a hand over hers. "Oh, I'll be scaring them off from Kon too-girls I mean. This whole 'quirk' complicates everything."

"What are the odds he'd?"

"Shh, don't tempt anything," Clark replied, stroking his stomach. "That's just asking for it."

"Well, on the plus side, you have about fourteen years to adjust to the idea of dating."

"Convents and monasteries are the wave of the future. I think the whole Kent family is getting religion," Clark replied, wincing a little when Kon started kicking.

"Clark?"

"He's awake again and worked up. I thought he'd take the rest of the day off after the wedding. He was really sleepy after the whole tree branch thing. I think the telekinesis wears him out."

"Wears the both of you out."

"It's not the most fun thing."

"It's pretty awesome to watch, though," Chloe said thoughtfully. "I have to admit I'm almost as jealous as Kara. Just when you think you guys can't have any more smoking cool powers."

"I don't. After all of this, I won't be making anything explode, which is really something I'm looking forward too. I am sick of the shattered glass."

"But it takes the terrible twos to a whole new level."

"Is it too late to foam pad everything?"

"Very funny," she said, leaning up and kissing his lips. "I'm just glad you're feeling better lately. You scared the Hell out of me and Kara two days ago."

"And I said I was sorry. It's not like I have a clue where Lex might be lurking. I just...damn," he swore, rubbing at his left side.

"Clark?"

"Kon's worked up enough to be staging the world cup again," he replied, breathing in sharply. "It's not to bad. I...maybe moving it upstairs to the bedroom is better. Heating pad stuff, you know?"

"Sure," Chloe replied, her brow furrowing. "Do you need Kara and J'onn to help you up?"

"No, it's okay," he said standing and doubling over when Kon kicked, this time it felt like he'd just flattened a kidney.

"Clark!"

"No, it's fine. It's just kind of sharp, okay?" He said, easing toward the stairs.

Chloe stood up to follow him and gasped. "Clark, stop."

"Why?" he asked, reaching for his stomach again and it was almost as painful as when his stomach cramped from Kryptonite.

"Look," Chloe replied and her voice was shaking.

Clark gulped. Her voice never shook.

He peered over the back of the couch and gasped at the large rust-colored stain soaking into the cushions. "Is that from me?"

Chloe was already marching over there to him, her hands touching the dark fabric of his black flannel pajama pants. They came back soaked in red. "J'onn! Kara! Come here."

Clark always forgot how fast they could move, but no sooner had everything happened than Kara and J'onn were already crowded over him. Right then, though, he wasn't thinking about much of anything. Kon was kicking so hard now, much harder than he had a few days ago at The Talon Hell, Clark wasn't even sure if one needed superhearing to detect the tearing then. Something sharp connected with the wall of his stomach and he felt his knees finally give way under him.

"Oh god."

He was lying on his back, trying to curl into a ball, instinct telling him that the fetal position was the preferred one. Grasping at his stomach. he watched as most of his family crowded around him. Willowbrook and Lionel weren't there but, even through the blinding pain, he noticed as Lois and Jimmy and his mother and everyone else gathered around him.

"Kara?" Chloe prodded, her voice back to the clipped efficiency that characterized her as Watchtower. "What's going on?"

Kara's eyes narrowed in a squint and she took in a sharp intake of breath. "It's started. At least half of the veins are splitting. It's...that's where the blood's from."

"Smallville?"

Clark howled as Kon tore something again. "Just J'onn and Kara and Chloe. Mom, don't watch this, please. I...fuck!" He swallowed and felt his back spasm. Somewhere above him, one of the table lamps shattered.

"Martha," J'onn intoned. "Please, I can't do what I have to do with the entire family in the middle of it."

His mom nodded and he felt her hand, cool and reassuring, press against his forehead. "Sweetie, I'll be upstairs if you need anything. Jimmy and Lois, come on."

"Kara?" Jimmy asked, still refusing to leave.

"Go James, please!"

Clark closed his eyes and screamed when Kon kicked again. God, there was so much tearing.

"J'onn, do something!" Chloe demanded, her tone less reserved than it had been before.

"Kara, help me get him undressed," J'onn said and he could feel his t-shirt shredding.

"Little cousin," Kara soothed, pushing back his bangs. "I need you to stay with me. You need to concentrate. Just take a breath and-"

"I know what comes after that," he wheezed, his head lolling back to the floor. "I'm too tired." His eyes closed and he just let Kon keep kicking. "Way too tired."

"Kal-El!" Kara shouted, shaking his shoulders. "You have to stay awake. You can't fall asleep yet."

"Too sleepy," he mumbled and there was a lot of shouting above him and he couldn't stay awake. There wasn't anything left but pain and he just wanted it to stop.

"Kal-El!"

He wasn't even sure if it was Kara or J'onn screaming anymore and it didn't matter. He was tired and sick and everything hurt and then something hot flashed across his stomach and he screamed. He could smell flesh searing and a rush of cold air to a gaping hole in his stomach.

"Kara, what?" He muttered, trying to fight back the encroaching darkness.

"Kon-El's not breathing...Chloe!"

And then Clark felt something warm flare through him, heard a high pitched wail, and then the rest was silence.


	39. Chapter 40

40

"Kon!" Clark screamed, his arm flailing out, managing to shatter his night stand to bits.

"Well, that answers that question," his cousin replied.

"Kara?"

"The one and only," she said. "Kal-El, are you okay?"

"Where's Kon?" He demanded, sitting up and bracing himself against the headboard.

"He's fine. He's with Aunt Martha and Lois."

"Chlo?"

"Kal, you need to take a deep breath. You just have to relax for Kon's sake."

"Where's Chloe?" He said, perking up his ears. He could make out three rhythms he craved-his mother's, Kara's, and his son's, even stronger than the swishing noise he'd heard constantly over the last six months. But the steady beat that should have been Chloe's was silent. "How long?"

"What?"

"How long have I been out? How long has a Chloe been dead?"

"Kal-"

"No, you have to tell me. Since when do you sugarcoat anything, Kara?" He asked.

"I don't, but you have to stay calm. Kon needs you right now. Kal, please, just take a deep breath and try and relax for me," Kara replied, sitting down at the chair by his bedside.

"How long?"

"It's been about 36 hours. I was kind of worried for a while that you weren't going to wake up either." Her voice wobbled a little and it scared him.

Leaning forward, he grabbed Kara's hand. "I'm still here. Kon and I are okay. I'm not going anywhere, ever."

Kara nodded and sniffled. "I know that now. Chloe's the same as she has been since she saved your life. You passed out and we couldn't get you to do anything."

"Push, you mean," he added wryly.

"J'onn might have heat visioned you a little."

"A little?"

"Okay, there was a lot of heat visioning going on, but then you stopped breathing and Kon-El wasn't moving and there was so much blood everywhere."

He swallowed hard at that. "So Chloe did her thing?"

"She did. She definitely did. It must have taken so much out of her though. She hasn't moved at all in almost two days. I've been listening, but there isn't anything yet, but she's not dead-dead either. She's still okay."

He nodded and let her stop talking. Chloe didn't develop rigor mortis when she died. The last time that had been the thing he'd clung to as he'd sat in The Talon apartment debating whether or not to call Gabe or an ambulance. He'd assumed if she were still movable, that if her body wasn't even stiff, that she'd still come back, no matter how silent her heart was.

"Can I see her?"

"I couldn't keep you from her, if I wanted to," Kara replied, shaking her head at what was left of his night stand. "You seem to be very much back to full strength."

"I do feel better," he said, starting to get out of bed. One strong palm against his chest restrained him. "I thought you said that you weren't going to hold me down."

"I wasn't, but Chloe comes second."

"How can you even say that?"

"Kon needs you more and when Chloe does wake up, she'll be first in line to kick your ass for not taking care of him first."

Clark gulped. "But you said he was okay, that mom was with him."

"I did say that, and he's doing alright. We managed to get a little formula into him and Aunt Martha and Lois have been watching him out on the porch so he can get some sun."

"But?"

"But he's very hungry, Kal, and the bottle stuff isn't enough."

Clark's eyes widened. "I was kind of hoping that-"

"Not even close. Kon's been up for about twelve hours and he's very, very hungry by now."

"And then I can see Chloe?"

Kara sighed, "Kal, of course you can, but I don't...we're keeping Lois out of the room. It looks bad. Maybe it's best if you didn't."

"If it were Jimmy?"

She smiled sadly, "You'd have to pull out Kryptonite to stop me. I don't want you to be upset, little cousin."

"I'm already there. I didn't want her to do this at all."

"And if she hadn't, I wouldn't have any cousins. She's going to wake up. She has the most kick-ass meteor power ever."

He smiled. "I know. I...can I see Kon now? If he was so hungry, then you should have woken me up."

"We tried. I think giving birth pretty much wiped you out," she said, eying the door. "Kal, I have to tell you something else, one thing before I bring him in."

"He's alright. You said he was," Clark insisted, his heart quickening.

"He's as healthy as you were at that age. No, it's not anything bad for him. How much did you see when you read Numan-Ro's memories?"

"I saw his son when he was just a few months old."

"I thought as much. That's what you didn't mention to Chloe."

"What now?"

"You didn't tell Chloe about what Numan's son's eyes looked like, how green they had to have been."

Clark narrowed his eyes at her. "Kon's okay, though?"

She nodded. "Hand to Rao, he looks just like you did when you were a baby, same eyes and everything."

"My eyes were that green?"

"Ours usually are," she admitted.

"Namek's were like that," Clark conceded. "Zod's other lieutenant too."

"They would be," Kara replied, her tone haughty. "It's something that's been bred out of us. The lower classes, well you can tell them by how they look. Kon will be indistinguishable from a human infant in a year, at most. I just wanted to prep you so you didn't freak out."

"I don't freak out," he muttered. "On a scale from one to freaked out, Chloe not having a heartbeat is leading the pack. I just want my family to be okay."

"And they're going to be. All you have to do is help me take care of Kon," Kara said, her smile brightening. "Aunt Martha!" She shouted. "You can totally bring him in now."

Clark sighed and tried to smile as broadly as he could for his mom and his son, even if his heart still felt shattered knowing that Chloe was dead. "Mom."

His mother entered into the room with an impossibly small bundle clenched to her chest. Kon was so very small and dwarfed by the chenille blanket his mother had made for him. "Baby, how are you feeling?"

"Loaded question," he replied, straining his ears to make out a heartbeat that wasn't there. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, sweetheart," his mother said, placing his son in his arms.

"He's so light."

Kara smiled and got up so that his mother could take his seat. "He only weights about five pounds. I think that's the squirrel's fault. She's too tiny."

"Kara, why don't you go help Jimmy keep Lois distracted."

"I said too much, didn't I?" Kara asked, slipping out the door.

"You don't have the most delicate touch, sweetheart," his mother replied, as Kara closed the door.

"Has Lois seen Chloe?" He asked, pulling the blanket lower to get a good look at Kon's face.

His mom shook her head. "We're not letting her in the room. There are some things I don't even think she could take. It's mostly been Jimmy and Lionel sitting with her. J'onn's looked over her, but there's nothing anyone can do. No one understands how her powers work."

"Not even Chloe," he replied sadly, peering down at his son's bright eyes. They glittered like Nulec's had and, just like the Numan before him, Clark couldn't help but think how well they complimented Chloe's bracelet, how much they reminded him of the ciel stone around her wrist. "Hey, buddy, so you're the guy who was causing all the commotion."

Kon yawned and blinked back up at him. It was the single cutest thing he'd ever seen, even cuter than the first time he'd gotten acute enough with his X-ray vision to spy his son's still forming veins.

"Hey," Clark cooed. "I know mommy and daddy have been sleeping. I'm so sorry, buddy. Did grandma take good care of you?"

His mom nodded and smoothed the tiny wisps of black bangs off of his son's forehead. "And Aunt Lois and Kara too. We've been looking after him for a little bit. He's beautiful, sweetheart."

"He is, isn't he?" He said, stroking gently at his son's cheek, smiling as he turned his head toward him, his little mouth opening just a little. "I wish your mom were here so much, Kon."

"She will be," his mom said and he wanted so badly to be able to comfort his son with the same skill his mom always did with him.

Kon blinked again and started mewling just a little, a small whine escaping his lips. His small face started burrowing ever so slightly toward Clark's shoulder. "Mom?"

His mother smiled and took Kon back for a minute, "That's his hungry cry."

"He has others already?"

She laughed. "He has one just for his Aunt Lois and one for when he wants the sun."

Clark chuckled at the thought of Kon already recognizing one of his aunts, but maybe his son knew the same strident voice anywhere. Slipping off his shirt, Clark blushed at the faint tracks of green that had already leaked down his chest. "Can you give him here?"

His mother nodded and kept her eyes focused entirely on his as she handed over Kon. "I was worried about him."

"But he's a tough little guy even when his dad's not up to feed him, isn't he?" Clark asked.

"He's a Kent, this one," his mom replied. "Stubborn as anything."

"Then he'll fit right in," Clark said, shuddering a little when Kon clamped down. This was going down above the first time he floated but just below the day Kara had forced him to look at Kon for the first time as one of the most surreal experiences of his life. His cheeks were flaring so bright that they could have lit up the room and he couldn't bear the thought of letting the Bros or Kara ever see him like this. And yet, at the same time, there was a flush of warmth spreading through him, something reassuring that seeped deeply into him.

Clark leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss on the crown of Kon's head. "That's what it feels like."

"What now, baby?" His mother asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

He paused for a second, not sure how to say the next piece without hurting her feelings. "I…it's not like anything else. Not like with your or Kara or even how it was when he was still just here," he said, touching his belly. "He's really with me."

"Yes."

He quirked her head at her, still rocking his son just slightly in his arms. "Is this how you felt when you found me?"

"How's that?"

"Complete."

She smiled and kissed them both. "Exactly."


	40. Chapter 41

41

Five Days

"Hey, I'm sorry I had to step out for a second, but mom's started holding dinner hostage. I can't get anything to eat and then Kon can't either, really, until I at least come down to the table. Of course, it only takes about five seconds, but I wanted to be here in case, you know…" he replied, trailing off. Chloe was leaning against him or, more accurately, he'd propped her head up against his side. He had one hand stroking her hair and the other tightened around the bassinet beside his bed. Every few seconds, he pushed its side, smiling over as his son slept soundly beside him.

"I know you're going to wake up soon. I think that six days is more than a record, Chlo. I just…you can't stay like this forever. The whole League needs you. Bart won't have anyone to flirt with besides Kara and she's already tried killing him about a hundred times, and Victor won't have anyone to talk about computers with. Lois…she's breaking down the door to be with you, and Jimmy and mom and everyone's come up to see you. We can't do anything without you, you know?"

He looked down expecting somehow to see Chloe's sardonic and self-effacing smile, the one she wore whenever she was trying to hide her true feelings. He'd have given anything to see that smile again, to her hear offer some lame excuse about a Barry Manilow moment.

"He's so tiny. I didn't think he'd be so small. Kara says I was huge, you know, even big and chubby at the hospital. I wish we had one of those, some place where there would have been Kryptonian medicine. If we'd had that, you wouldn't have had to do anything to help us. But he's so beautiful, Chlo, and he's already so energetic. I mean, I kind of knew that since he loves 3 AM so much, but he's kind of a wriggle worm already and you're going to even have to struggle to keep up with him. You just have to wake up," he said, hating the whine in his voice as he spoke. "Chlo-"

"Kal!" Kara shouted and it was loud enough to make the door rattle. "You totally skipped out on dinner."

"I did not," he replied quietly, knowing full well that she'd hear him.

"Don't make me rip the door of the hinges. I've sworn off the whole property damage thing since Kon's so gifted with it, but you need to open up. It's not fair."

"Kara, go away."

"Do I have to break the lock?"

"Put it on Lionel and Ollie's tabs," he bit out, shaking his head when the door crunched and Kara blurred in. "You suck."

He narrowed his eyes and drew Chloe's bo…no, not body , Chloe closer to him. "I promised mom I'd eat and I did. I was at the table and everything."

"For exactly five seconds. I was the only one who saw you and they wouldn't even know you'd ever been there except for the missing food. Kal, you can't hole up here for the rest of your life."

"It's five days not the rest of my life, like you don't exaggerate."

"You know what I mean. I know this hurts, but you can't just stay here. Kon shouldn't be in here."

"It's where his mom is."

Kara sighed and sat down on the bed next to him. "And I understand that abilities are weird and powers work funny and that no one even knows how Chloe's are supposed to work, especially since she healed two of us, but you could spend weeks or months or forever here."

"She's not going to be gone for forever, Kara."

"And she could be like this for a very long time and it's no place to keep Kon. It's not all that good for you either. Chloe healed you but this place is dark as can be. You both need a lot more light than this and it's just…it's not good."

"Mom nominated you to come get me?"

"Lois and J'onn want to drag you out. Aunt Martha is almost at that point herself but she thought someone might talk reason into you and then threaten to yank you out by the scruff of your sorry neck. You have to try being with the rest of us. You have to let Kon see the rest of his family, and you can't just keep sitting here all day, not sleeping-"

"I am sleeping."

She snorted. "I can hear your heartbeat the same way you can hear mine. You haven't slept worth a damn since you woke up. You have to try and do better without her."

"In case, what? She never wakes up? Chloe wouldn't give up on me after a few days."

"And I'm not asking you to give anything up. I'm telling you to do something else besides mourn."

Clark's eyes flashed. "I am not mourning. I'm waiting and there's a difference. Don't even start with me, if it were-"

"It's not Jimmy, and it was everybody , Kal."

He blinked. "What?"

"It was everybody. You told me everybody I'd ever met was dead and that I was stranded on an alien planet, so I think I know a lot about mourning and about moving on."

"I'm not moving anywhere."

"I'm not telling you to do that, but you can't shut you and my nephew up in here. It's wrong."

"She'll wake up and I'm supposed to be there when it happens."

"And you'll know even before she does when her heart restarts. You have to be somewhere else. You can't just keep Kon-El cooped up like this. Kal, please."

Clark shook his head and poured on his own speed, pulling Kara out the door and slamming it in her face. "Forget it. Tell mom I'll be down for breakfast but that that's it. I have to be here when she wakes up."

Kara upped the ante by burning the door to cinders in front of him. "Try slamming it shut now, you jerk. Jimmy and I have been trading shifts for keeping Lois distracted. No one's figured out what to tell Mr. Sullivan and he's called five times looking for Chloe since he heard about the big move in for 'Lana.' Someone has to take care of things here, too."

"Then you can do it."  
>" I can't."<p>

Clark stared back at her and blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It's your household, all of it. I don't like to admit these kinds of things because, let's face it, I'm way more awesome than you."

"I get the point," he drolled.

"No, you don't. I'm not like saying you're in control of everything because I'd never do that and I still get Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays."

"Then make every day Tuesday."

"I can't do that. You're the one who's been here the longest. This is your farm and the Bros were your friends first and you're the one who's taking care of all of us."

"You do pretty well on your own and, of course, I take care of Kon," he said, leaning over and smiling at his son.

"No, you take care of all of us, now. You made that call the second you and Chloe went to New Mexico to talk to Dax-Ur's widow. There's three of us now that Kon-El's here and we all depend on you, and you can't stay here. You can't lock your son up like this. You can't scare Aunt Martha. Kal, I'm not saying that you can't spend time with her, but you can't hole up here either. It's not healthy and it's not right."

"And I have to be here when she wakes up."

Kara narrowed her eyes and sped off. In a second she was back, a gaudy souvenir mug from the Empire State building clenched in one hand. "You can be here faster than she can even try and blink. It's not abandoning her."

He sighed and stroked Chloe's hair. "I didn't leave her last time and she'd never leave me."

"And she'd never want her son shut off like this. Kal, just keep Kon in the nursery and try and do something with the rest of us. Get some sun for his sake, please."

He frowned and quirked her head at her. "You don't usually beg."

"And you don't usually scare me but you've been on a roll for over two weeks. Kal," she said, touching his wrist. "Just try for me, would you do that?"

"But Chlo-"

"Would be the first in line to kick your ass," she reminded him. Sighing, she scooped Kon up into her arms. "I'm taking him downstairs to actually see Aunt Martha for the first time in days and you're going to come with me."

"I-"

Kara shook her head and her own eyes flared red. "You might have all your strength back, little cousin, but you don't want to test me either. Come on." With that, she dragged him to the living room.

Fourteen Days

"Baby, it's going to get cold out here," his mom said, as she stepped out onto the porch and pulled her coat more tightly around her shoulders.

Clark looked up from where he was rocking Kon in the porch swing. "Going to? Mom, it's been twenty-five all day."

"I was trying to be polite about it. You two have been out here for a while. The sun's setting, sweetheart."

He nodded and pulled the blanket further up on Kon's chin. "Yeah, but it was nice while it lasted."

"I can imagine that it was," she replied, sitting down next to him and taking Kon in her arms. "He takes after you a lot, doesn't he?"

"Maybe a little," Clark conceded. "I never did get cold either."

"Kara says this is like summer where you're from."

"A little bit. It doesn't mean I don't like real summer. Heat's not all that bad either."

She chuckled. "I knew that the first summer you started helping your father out on the farm and never even broke a sweat." She smiled and tickled Kon's stomach. His son let out the tiniest yawn and blinked back up at her. "You've been very quiet lately."

"Is that mom code for 'I wish you'd talk more?'"

"Yes. Baby, we're all worried about you. Even when you're here, you're not. You have your ears straining to hear her and most of the time, you're squinting upstairs."

"And I still want to be the first to know when she wakes up. I have to be the first."

She sighed and leaned against one broad shoulder. "I know. I just wish there was more I could do to help you both."

"Unless you've been holding out on us in the superpowers department, I don't think there is. It matters to me, though, that you're here, that you helped looked after Kon before I woke up and that you're always just dropping by my room with cocoa or an extra blanket. I'm glad you're here, mom, and not in D.C."

"And I still wish I could make this stop. If anyone's actually earned some rest after the last nine months, it's you."

"Chloe, too," he remarked. He looked down and stroked Kon's cheek. "Mom?"

"Are you finally ready to admit winter defeat?"

"Not exactly. It's just…do you remember when Evan died?"

Involuntarily, his mom's arms tightened around Kon. "I'm sorry about that."

"And there's a lot of things even I can't fix-not dad or Alicia or Khyla." His voice choked up a little as he spoke. "Maybe not even Ch-"

"Don't borrow trouble, sweetheart," his mother replied. "What about Evan?"

Clark sighed and took Kon back from his mother. "I just never thought I'd get to have him. If Chloe were better…"

"She will be," his mom replied, standing up and nudging his shoulder gently. "Now come on. It's time for dinner. Someone's supposed to help me tonight and it's not my niece."


	41. Chapter 42

42

21 Days

"Let's see what there is today. Lois isn't actively blacklisted-lucky her-and she had an article with the latest DUI in Metropolis. She asked for something in City Hall, something more like what she wants to do, but you know the DP. It's been tabloid central since Grant took over. It's more of a rag than The Inquisitor, almost. The few things Perry manages to sneak past Lex are the only thing keeping it a real paper at all. He and Jimmy ran something about a racketeering ring down on Ninth Street. He even did Jimmy a favor by getting one of the senior photographers to sign his name to the shots. If I ever get my hands on Lex, I swear…"

Beside him, Kon let out a small cry. Clark sighed and rocked his bassinet back and forth a few times. "Shh, I know we all hate Lex. I'm sorry, buddy, I didn't mean to wake you back up. Just go back to sleep."

"I don't know. Our son might have a promising future as an alarm clock."

Clark blurred back around to stare at his wife. "Chloe?"

"The one and only," she said, smacking her lips. "God, why does coming back from the dead always make my throat dry?"

"Oh god," Clark said, sweeping her up in a fierce hug. "I thought that I'd-"

"Lost me. I know, I've heard that one before," she replied glibly. "Hey, can you loosen up on the squeezing. I might be invulnerable or close enough, but I don't enjoy healing bruised ribs if I can help it."

He blushed and pulled back, still clutching at her shoulders. "You can't ever do that again, you know that?"

She grinned. "I thought you already loaned me out to Kara."

"Do you have to do that too?"

"Do what?"

"Make all these lame jokes. It was serious," he said, picking Kon up and cradling him against his chest. "You were dead for over three weeks this time."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Yeah right."

Clark looked between her and their son. Quietly, he added, "It's not a joke. I really thought you weren't coming back."

"Clark?" She asked, her tone sobering. "That can't be right."

"I don't think you're supposed to heal Kryptonians. If Kon gets paper cuts or something, I think he's on his own."

She smiled and reached out her arms. "Can I? I've been waiting forever to hold him."

Clark smiled and passed Kon into her arms. He was already crying just a little, still startled from Chloe's own rants. The second he was eased into her arms, he relaxed and started cooing. Reaching up, Kon wrapped tiny fingers around a strand of Chloe's hair and Clark's smile widened. "He's never done that one."  
>"What? Stop crying on the first try?" Chloe asked, pulling a strand out of his grasp.<p>

"No, grab like that." He stroked his son's hair. "He learns something new every day, I swear. Yesterday, he learned how to suck his finger."

"Quite an accomplishment," She marveled, laughing as he wrapped his fingers around her hair again. "Hey, it doesn't even hurt."

"Huh?"

"He's yanking and it's not strong at all," she prodded.

"Oh, right. Heh, you, Watchtower, get a reprieve. You're still only babysitting the two Kryptonians."

"Really?"

He nodded and patted Kon's head delicately. "J'onn says that he was getting most of his strength from siphoning off of mine. It's going to take a while of him soaking up the sun before he's able to do a lot of the things he used to. Kara and J'onn both think he probably won't be able to move anything telekinetically until he's at least six months."

"And then?"

"We should probably invest in a lot of plastic," Clark replied. "He'll, uh, probably get the floating around then too. I didn't for the longest time here, but the real Numan's son could do it." He sighed. "I think most of me being grounded is kind of psychosomatic."

"So now that you and Kon aren't time-sharing, are you earth bound?"  
>He blushed. "I'm not sure if it's the hormones or the fact that it's become habit, but I haven't slept on the mattress once in the entire three weeks since he was born." He shrugged. "It makes sense. Kara sleeps suspended too. It's all a traveler thing."<p>

Chloe grinned and dangled another strand of hair in front of Kon's hand. "So does J'onn do it too?"

"I don't talk about sleeping habits with J'onn. It's awkward and I don't want to think about him off the clock."

"Very funny," Chloe quipped, her smile going megawatt as soon as Kon tugged her hair again. "Should I sleep somewhere else?"

"God no. I think I can get a grip on you that's strong enough not to let you fall and, you know, even if I did, it's only about a three foot drop and you are self-healing. Aren't you up for an adventure?"

"I wouldn't be married to you if I weren't," she deadpanned, looking down at the stone on her wrist. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I'm sorry I got into this mess in the first place, but not about Kon."

"Of course not. He's the coolest thing you've ever done. That whole stopping world conquest with Zod pales in comparison."

"You know that was a whole apocalypse deal."

Chloe kissed Kon's forehead. "Still the coolest by far."

"And mommy's even more smitten," Clark replied smugly. "I'm glad you're up. It's actually close to midnight so you timed the whole thing wrong, but if you want to be up, I'm sure the second Lois sees you, she'll be ready to party."

She nodded and then kissed his lips. "I'm not feeling in a party mood. Give me a second and then we'll tell everyone the news. I just need a breather."

"Believe me, I can relate," he said, grinning as he sped out and back. Chloe jumped slightly. "I knew you still had a scare reflex."

"A very small one," she replied, frowning down at Kon. "He didn't even blink."

"Kon runs on Clark-time," he supplied. "He doesn't see me or Kara just pop in like you guys do."

"Really?"

He nodded and tickled Kon's stomach. "Kara's tried to sneak up on him a few times. It definitely doesn't work."

"Well that's going to keep him from being Aunt Kara's favorite target," Chloe replied. "So you won't have a scare reflex, buddy, will you?"

"He's going to win hide and seek every time with other kids," he said, sighing a little at how complicated it was going to be to integrate a son with superstrength and telekinesis into the rest of the world. They'd worry about that one later. Right now at least every one he cared about was still safe and alive.

" Caoimhneil , you are amazing," she said.

" Caoimhneil ?" Clark asked, frowning down at Kon.  
>"It's means, 'dear one,' or close enough. It's what Grammy Sullivan called me when I was little."<p>

"I like it," he said, handing over his present.

"What's that?"

"Just read it."

She arched an eyebrow and looked down at it. "It's a birth certificate from Smallville Medical Center. Funny, when did your house become the hospital?"

"About the time Victor hacked the records for us. He's not you, but he does in a pinch."

"He's better than me."

"But he lacks your flare, Chlo. Anyway, just read it."

"I've skimmed a lot of birth certificates when researching stories. They all pretty much look alike."

"Keep reading," he replied, smugly.

She shook her head. "Let's see, five pounds, three ounces-total light weight-and then there's dad's name, one Clark Jerome Kent." She chuckled.

"What?"

"How hard was it to keep Kara from putting your name under mother?"

"According to Ollie and Victor, she only insisted the three times," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Keep reading."

"Mother," she said, her voice wavering when she read Lana's name.

He sighed and squeezed her shoulder. "I had to keep it that way. Any reporter who digs things up…it had to be on the record, Chlo."

"I know it did," she replied, forcing a smile. "It's definitely much better than having your name in the mom side."

"Oh very funny. I think I'm taking my present back."

"Yeah right. Let's see. Full name: Connor Sullivan Kent." She paused then and stared, wide-eyed, back up at him. "What?"

Clark swallowed and forced himself not to let his heat vision flare. "I was never going to let it be his name, Chlo."

"So it's mine instead?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "I couldn't put your name on it where I wanted to, but I put it where it belongs. I wanted to do it. He's yours . I…Lana gave him his D.N.A. or as close as we have, anyway, but you're his mom. You gave him life."

"Clark, there's a whole elevator of muzak playing in your honor now."

"Then I can write the songs that," he groused. "Take a compliment just once, would you?" He asked, leaning over and kissing her. Pulling away, he added, "It's for you, Chlo. Next time your name gets to be all over the place."

"There's a next time?"

He snorted and patted his stomach. "Not for me. I think someone else should get a chance to take embarrassing photos and waddle and pee every five minutes. Really, it's tons more fun than it sounds."

"I'll bet. In fact you-" she started, only to be cut off by Kon's crying. "Oh crap. I've only held him for like thirty minutes and I did something already."

Clark sighed and shucked off his t-shirt. "No, that's feeding time."

Chloe nodded and kept her expression neutral as possible as he brought Kon back to his chest. "So?"

"It works better than you think and it's not a floor show," he sniffed, relaxing as Kon started to suckle.

"I didn't say it was and you're still snippy."

"Eleven more months. I have a calendar. Days are crossed off, believe me," he replied, stroking their son's back.

"So, after you're done nursing, when you still act like a drama queen, who are you going to blame it on?"

"Very funny," he quipped, relaxing a little the more Kon fed. Seriously, his ancestors were geniuses with the genetic engineering or maybe it was just a natural side effect of all the hormones he was pumped to the gils with. Nursing felt…well not quite like being high, just mellower somehow. It was good for him it did because the act tended to take off the edge that came with having Kara or whoever else gawk at him.

"It's not. It's fine, Clark," she replied, kissing the top of Kon's head. "In fact," she replied, snuggling against him. "It's all perfect."

He smiled and leaned against her. "My thoughts exactly."


	42. Chapter 43

43

Kon had almost finished nursing when Kara popped into reality beside him, followed at a more obvious and slower pace by Jimmy and Lois. Kon and Clark both winced when Lois let out a loud whoop and wrapped her arms around Chloe.

"Don't you ever do that to me, cuz. The last time I went for three weeks without seeing you was when daddy had you deep undercover."

Chloe squeezed her cousin and let out a contented sigh. "I promise not to take the big sleep any time soon."

Beside him, Kara frowned and glanced at Jimmy. "I totally understand, Chloe."

Chloe pulled back from Lois's grip and shook her head. "No, you don't." Reaching out, Chloe took Kara's hand and smiled up at her. "I promised and I'll do the same thing, just give me about five years to recover."

"Which coincides with you going to and finishing college and maybe getting a nice masters and a job," Clark finished.

"Kal, you are such a buzzkill," she huffed, hopping back off the bed and sitting down in Jimmy's lap. The other guy was sitting in a large, overstuffed arm chair by the bed. Clark appreciated the fact that, even though his bed was oversized to a self-indulgent degree, Jimmy wasn't getting into it next to him. He liked his (probable) cousin-in-law, just not that much.

"I am not. School is important. Even I'm going back."

Chloe smiled. "Well, I think Martha owes Chief Joseph a lifetime supply of pies for convincing you."

Clark sighed and continued stroking Kon's head. "I need to set a good example for Kon and, apparently, Kara."

"Cute babies!"

"Do you not see me wakign up at 2 am to feed him?"

Jimmy glanced over to where Clark was pulling the now satiated Kon away from his chest and straightening his t-shirt back down. "I like sleeping."

"I used to, too," Clark replied. "But Kon's always been fond of early mornings so I don't sleep anymore. I'm sure it will get better in a few years, you know?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said, gulping and eying Kara. "Uh, Kara, baby?"

Lois got Clark's eye and for the first time in perhaps ever they both agreed on one thing-rolling their eyes at the endearment.

"Yes?"

"You're sure that I won't, um-"

"Nurse? Get pregnant? Oh, completely. It's all about me!"

Chloe snickered and cradled their son against her chest. Kon yawned, closed his eyes, and then curled back to sleep. "When isn't it, Supergirl?"

"But no, James, it's only something for me and Kal."

Clark sighed and stroked Kon's cheek. "Lucky me."

"Oh very."

"Good because I didn't want the stretch marks," Jimmy said. Clark narrowed his eyes at the other man. He had a talent for putting his foot in his mouth.

"Oh, Kal-El won't keep his. Invulnerable skin," Kara shrugged. "Without all the extra calories, he'll probably be back to normal in about three months except for the breasts."

"Moobs," Lois replied, chuckling. "Only Smallville would grow those." Kon, hearing his aunt's voice, shifted a little and whimpered. Lois frowned. "He does that all the time around me. I don't get it."

Chloe glared at him, "Not a word."

"I didn't say anything," he replied, still stroking his son's cheek.

"He's still so tiny," Kara replied, sighing. "When I have a baby, he'll be big and fat."

"I think you're exaggerating about me as a chubby baby."

"No, Kal, I am so not."

"Well, I've seen you eat, I think that's pretty accurate," Lois conceded.

"I am so glad we're related."

"Yeah, I'm jumping for joy here too, Smallville."

Chloe shook her head and looked down at the now sleeping Kon. "Thanksgiving is going to be interesting."

"Still, I bet it's all Lana's fault. She's tiny. You should have had sex with Chloe to begin. She's definitely built for the long haul, you know?" Kara replied and Jimmy sighed.

"Kara, do you remember when we talked about things not to say in public?"

"But Chloe would be a great biological mother. It's a compliment."

Chloe stilled next to Clark but kept her smile plastered on her face. "Well next time around when I have a Pulitzer or two."

"Then more cute babies. What about you Lois?"

"Uh-huh, not happening. I am not mom material," she replied. "Besides, I'm more of an on my own, career woman type. Maybe later, but me and three or four rugrats? Nah." She brightened and kissed Kon's nose. "I will settle for being the best aunt ever and spoiling him rotten."

"No, I'll spoil him more."

"No, I bet Uncle Ollie is going to win that one," Jimmy replied. "I love the little guy too but I don't think I'll be able to get him a private island for his birthday."

"Please don't," Clark replied, sighing down at his son. "I could use something else from all of you."

"Streamers?" Kara asked.

He blinked back at her. "How have you acculturated again?"

"Mostly with cable and Lois."

"That explains a lot," Jimmy admitted.

"Don't knock it. Kara has great taste in clothes and she appreciates a good guitar riff. See, higher beings get metal!"

"I don't."

"You only get plaid," Lois snarked.

He sighed. "I...you need to help me with Kon."

"He's just sleeping right now, totally boring," Kara replied.

"No, I mean that we all know what Lana did when she had my powers."

"Um, sorry to be behind the curve," Jimmy added. "But I don't."

"Lana felt the need to throw me through a plate glass window," Lois answered. "My arm was sore for a month."

Chloe nodded, "She got hopped up on Clark's powers the same way the Kawatchee mothers gained their temporary abilities and then she used them to hurt Lois and Grant and to try and kill Clark and Lex."

Clark swallowed, his stomach churning at the thought of his son ever abusing his powers the same way. "Lana...I don't think her conscience ever worked right."

"Understatement. I swear, if you'd just left me and Supergirl alone in a room," Lois replied, pounding her fist into the palm of her hand.

"That would have set a bad example for Kon," Chloe admonished. "The point is that Clark's worried that Connor might be a little morally wonky, at least genetically speaking."

Kara snorted, "Kal's the biggest stick in the dirt I know. He'll make sure Kon's responsible."

He narrowed his eyes at his cousin but still nodded. "I know that, but I wanted to get you all to help me. We just have to take good care of him. I mean mom's here, of course, and the Bros would help, but you're his aunts and uncle. He's going to see you guys the most."

Jimmy's eyes lit up. "So I'm going to help teach an intergalactic traveler how to use his awesome powers responsibly. Me, Jimmy Olsen. That is so cool."

"Kara, why do you date a groupie?"

Chloe giggled and kissed his cheek. "We all are by now."

"So," Lois asked, "Are the adults coming up? I think Martha totally wants to see Chloe too." Clark smiled back at her. "That's really stepford, Smallville. What's with the smile."

"I was just thinking. You have a full time job, Jimmy and Kara are practically engaged-but don't get any ideas yet, Kara-and Chloe and I just had a baby. I think the grownups are already here."


	43. Chapter 44

44

"Chloe, I don't think that's going to really work," Clark replied patiently, watching as she put the booty on Kon's foot for the seventh time. Like the six times before it, Kon frowned, reached over and pulled it back off, giggling when it fell to the floor.

Kon was just a month old and Clark wasn't sure if humans were quite as animated at that age. Some of the other babies he'd met were a lot more lump-like, a lot more than Kara's protests made Kon seem. Of course, the Barnes and Noble had been a little light on books about Kryptonian child-rearing. He really found that culturally insensitive. Maybe he should have written a letter.

Chloe glared at him and shoved the booty back on Kon's foot and then started wrangling with his mittens. "You could help. You have superspeed again. He'd be dressed and ready for the outside in no time if you wanted to."

Clark smirked and leaned back on the table. "Chlo?"

"What? Have you seen his hat?"

"It's January."

"And it's twenty degrees out!"

"Kon's like me," he replied, still smirking.

"No, you think that. You assume because your mom was dumb enough to let the two of you sit outside without down blankets and snow suits and warm water bottles and a space heater and..."

"He's immune to cold," Clark replied, amused. "It's the second thing that proves he takes after me, right after the hearing."

"No," Chloe insisted, blowing her bangs out of her face. "You're making an assumption. He's half Lana and that girl caught colds from sitting inside quietly in front of a fire. I am not letting him catch pneumonia or something. Do you want him to pull a William Henry Harrison?"

"He's not president."

"Moot point. He could get sick."

"You know, colds don't actually come from being cold temperature wise and pneumonia comes from a bacteria."

"You are way too gleeful about this whole thing," she grumped, pulling on a snowsuit that vaguely made Kon look like a starfish. Kon tried to wiggle his arms in it and couldn't even force them down to his sides.

"Chlo, he hates it."

"He'll hate it less when he doesn't contract the Hanta Virus, thank you very much."

Clark laughed. "You're really more high strung than I thought about the mom thing."

She paused and quirked her head at him, before wrapping a scarf around her neck. "High strung?"

"He's been out and about for a whole month and he's never had a sniffle."

"Flawed logic."

"He's not going to...he likes snow."

"And I'm going to make sure he never needs a nice bowl of chicken soup ever. His immune system is only half-invulnerable and I don't want to specialized in healing ear aches and strep because you're stupid sometimes."

"I am not," he replied, picking their son up. Kon looked up at him with luminous green eyes and then down at his parking cone orange snow suit. "I know that sucks, buddy."

"Language!" Chloe chided and it was slightly creeping him out to see her channel his mom so well. "Seriously, he's going to learn to love it."

Clark looked back at Kon who was waving his little arms furiously. "I doubt that, Chlo. Are you ready yet?"

"And we're making a snowman why?"

"Because it's fun and traditional and our lives are sorely lacking in both."

She grinned cheekily back at him and showed him her bracelet. "I think we definitely have tradition covered. I really need something blue."

"Very funny," he replied, stepping down the stairs of the front porch. Jimmy and Kara were already out there and they had the very lumpy bottom of a snowman rolled up by the farmhouse. Kara spied her little cousin and frowned. Clark smirked as she sped over and back, leaving Kon dressed only in Tigger t-shirt and miniscule jeans in her wake.

Nodding her head brusquely, Kara looked back at them both. "That's much more like it."

Chloe, who'd finally processed the change, glared at her in-law. "That defeats an hour of work!"

"You worry too much," Kara replied, pulling out celery from her coat pocket. "James, this is for the nose, right?"

Jimmy, who was exceedingly diplomatic and had not commented on the great coat debate either way, smiled at his cousin. "That's, uh, close enough."

"I don't like carrots," Kara explained, shrugging. "Orange is a last season color."

"Okay then," Jimmy replied, rolling up the middle. "We can work with that."

Clark chuckled and sat down on the stairs, his own t-shirt a plain blue that didn't quite compliment his son's look. Bouncing Kon on his lap, he patted the stoop beside him. "You don't like it?"

"If he catches something, you're so the one getting up at four AM with him and then explaining to J'onn what happened."

"He'll be fine," Clark replied, leaning a little against her as she sat down next to him. "Look, see the smiling?" Kon played into the whole thing by breaking into a broad smile and giggling again. Grinning himself, Clark reached down and placed a small mound of snow in his palm. Kon's laugh intensified and he stared intently down at the white powder. He'd seen snow before, but he loved it every time he touched it. Glancing across the field, Clark could make out where Kara and Jimmy had taken a break and were making snow angels.

The snow love was an El thing.

Chloe, finally appeased by the cuteness of Kon, rolled her eyes indulgently. "It's not fair to use that much cute against me, you know?"

He shrugged his shoulders, placed Kon squarely in her lap, and focused on rolling up a few snowballs. "I think it's his third superpower."

She glanced over at Kara and then considered him. "Did you have any ugly people on your planet?"

He paused at that. "I don't think my uncle was all that good looking," he replied honestly. "You don't think that's recessive, do you?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You know Kara could almost go to New York right now. She's a little shorter than Tyra likes 'em, but she's gorgeous. Would you look at that idiot grin on Jimmy's face?"

"I try and ignore it. I like Jimmy and our relationship works best if I stay convinced that he only plays checkers with Kara."

"Checkers?"

"Yes, checkers. Every time Aunt Kara and Uncle Jimmy hang out, it's because of checkers. I have to believe that."

Kon glanced up at Chloe and giggled again. She kissed his cheek, which wasn't flushed in the least, and smirked back at him. "He doesn't even buy that and he doesn't know anything about checkers ."

"Except that they should only be played after you're married and that they often lead to little Kryptonians."

"Yeah, I cannot wait for the birds, the bees, and the intergalactic kangaroo speech."

Clark glanced down at his chest and then considered heat visioning his cousin just out of spite. "I wish I'd gotten it a little sooner."

Kon giggled again and Chloe glanced down at him. "Really?"

"Well, I wish I didn't have to freaking nurse," he amended. Chloe frowned. "What? I'm supposed to be thrilled?"

"No, it's just that he's all smiley and giggly. Are you sure he's related to you and Lana?"

Clark glared at her. "Nah, I think he's mine."

She shrugged and looked back to where Kara was laughing and hurling snowballs (human strength) at Jimmy. "Maybe he takes after Kara."

Clark gaped at her. "No way. He can't...if he...I already have one of them to take care of. I don't need one like Kara."

"I heard that!" Kara chimed and then he felt the snowball, which was mostly ice, slam into his face. "I'm an angel."

"Right, honey, exactly," Jimmy replied. "Do you want to make the head now?"

"Okay," she chirped turning back to him.

"You know," Clark replied, not bothering to whisper. In a house full of Kryptonians there was no point in whispering. "She complains about my mood swings, but I swear she's bipolar."

"Do you need another snowball to the face?" Kara asked, rolling up a head that was more square than circular.

"No, I'm good," he replied. "How are you doing, Chlo?"

She shrugged and kissed the top of Kon's head. "I'm good. I woke up rested and rarin' to go. I'm fine, Clark."

"Cool, I was just checking."

She nodded, "I know. So," she said, standing up and cradling Kon delicately to her chest. "Are we going to finish the snowman or not?"

"Sure," he answered as they both walked over to the snowman. He already had a pipe from somewhere and a celery stick nose. "Kara?"

"Uh-huh?"

"What are you using for buttons?"

"Hostess cupcakes."

"Why?" Chloe asked.

The other girl spun around and rolled her eyes, "Because they're huge and birds love them."

"They flew south," Chloe reminded her.

Jimmy sighed and Clark had this flash of him helpfully explaining things like this and the great donkey snafu for the rest of his married life, not that Kara was ever getting married or leaving the farmhouse or anything. "She thinks they might come back with the right incentive."

Chloe smiled. "That's a thought. Do you have something for the eyes?"

He handed them to lumps of charcoal. "Traditional can sometimes be good."

"Kal?"

"What?"

"Do you want to make a diamond instead?"

He considered that and shook his head. "It won't show up in snow."

"Okay, give me another cupcake, James," she demanded, placing a third one on the snowman's stomach.

Chloe hefted Kon up a little so that he could watch as Clark placed the two coal eyes on Frosty's (who else) face. "See, that's a snowman."

Kon considered that and clapped.

Kara smiled back at her cousin and kissed his still not reddened cheeks. "He's definitely smarter than a squirrel."

"Come on, Kon, this is great. It's completely yummy," Clark said, bringing the spoon to Kon's face.

"Clark, sweetheart," his mother chided from the kitchen island. "He's too little for solids."

"No, mom, he's going to like this," Clark insisted, trying to place the spoon near Kon's mouth again. Damn if his son wasn't some kind of wiggle machine.

His wife, traitor, eyed the Gerber jar speculatively. "Clark, don't take this the wrong way, but even I wouldn't like strained peas and I've been eating solids for two decades."

"Damn it. I bought peas?"

"Did you read the label?"

"It looked greenish. I...the other stuff is green," he sighed and chucked the spoon down onto the table. "Well that's never going to work. I hate peas. Kara hates peas. If Zod hadn't been a psychopath, I'm sure he'd hated peas too."

"Huh, a whole higher culture in a conspiracy against peas," Chloe quipped.

"It is not a conspiracy. They taste awful. Maybe I can go to the store and get peaches or something instead?"

"Baby, it's not going to-"

"But I might find a flavor, right?"

"J'onn says that it's really better for him to nurse," his mom reminded him.

"But has anyone considered the possibility that J'onn just finds this whole thing," he paused then, gesturing to his chest as if they'd be confused about the thing in question. "...hilarious and is lying to me."

"Human infants need to nurse for at least a year," Chloe pointed out. "Kon's half that. It's not happening."

Clark sighed and looked down at his son, who had a large smearing of strained peas on both of his cheeks. "This is your fault."

Kon smiled at him.

"No, don't do that. It's definitely your fault, buddy." He sighed and looked back at the two mothers in the room. "What if it were apple sauce?"

"Shh," Clark replied, rocking Kon, holding his son tight to his chest. "You don't want to wake mommy up. It's only four AM and she has to be at work tomorrow."

Kon blinked up at him and was still whimpering a little, poised to wail.

Clark shook his head and repositioned his son so that he finally started feeding. "We have a deal, buddy, you know. I catch you just as you start waking up and we don't cry and make mommy tired, okay?"

"That's the plot?"

Clark was so startled that his head whipped around in superspeed. "Chlo!"

"So, that's why I haven't been up any time in the last month?" She said, pulling the small folding chair up next the two of them. "I just thought Kon slept through the night. How was I supposed to know?"

Clark blushed. "No, he's an up and at them kind of guy. Kon feeds about three times a night. It's just that I can hear when his heart beat speeds up as he gets ready to wake up. I'm in the nursery before he ever even opens his eyes."

"So I didn't have to be awake?"

"Well, Kara sleeps here most nights and she has the early shift at The Talon," he admitted. "I didn't think she'd appreciate it either."

Chloe rolled her eyes and stroked the thick, dark hair already covering Kon's head. "You know, Clark, we're splitting him fifty-fifty."

"That sounds like a real estate deal."

"No, I meant that I'm not supposed to be one of those lazy, um, mothers who sleep through the night just because they're not the ones nursing. The Bros got you that pump thing for a reason. Bottles are of the good."

He sighed," I know. But if I had to be up, and I'm so well coordinated with his heartbeat that I'd wake up either way. I wanted you to get some sleep."

"And not to channel my inner Lana but I'm his mom, and it would be really unfair of me to make you get up every night while I'm all cuddled under the covers. I can deal with less sleep at night. You know I don't even need that much anymore, right?"

That was something else to feel guilty about but he could only feel so bad anymore that Chloe was meteor-affected. If she hadn't been, he and their son wouldn't even be alive. "I know that. I was just trying to be considerate."

She nodded and kissed him. "I appreciate this, but we're partners and if you have to be up at 3 AM, then I have to be up then too."

"Really?"

"Of course, but we'll need more coffee."

"Oh naturally."

"When do you think he's old enough for coffee?" She asked, quirking her head at Kon.

"Infants don't drink coffee."

"Well, he's special."

"Kryptonians don't get high on caffeine."

"But it's a necessity of life. Daddy let me have some as a bribe by the time I was five."

Clark frowned at that. "Because of your mom?"

Chloe nodded and struggled to keep her voice even. "He tried to figure out how to do the mom thing on top of being my dad really fast. He's the best dad ever."

"Hey!"

"Okay, second best, but he wasn't good with the discipline stuff and I might have been a little bit of a con artist. So I talked him into an eleven PM bed time, coffee, R-rated movies...the works. He got the handle on saying no. I think the General helped a lot with that."

"So," Clark said, relieved when Kon finished and curled up against the crook of his elbow. "Who's the disciplinarian here?"

Chloe snickered. "I've met Martha and I know Kara. You come from a long line of being railroaded by the women in your life. I'm so the stern one."

"Cool, I can be the fun dad."

Chloe snickered one more time. "Or, you know, the mom."

"I hate Kara. She never should have started saying that."

"It's a little funny," Chloe admitted as she held out her arms to take their son. "Don't worry, I'll be the lame one and he can come to you for coffee and fireworks or something."

"I don't think fireworks is a good idea, Chlo."

"You know what I meant."

He nodded and kissed her temple. "We can both be lame parents and Kara can be the bad influence."

"Oh man."

"Now you know how I feel."

"Jimmy is so screwed."

"Yeah, he really is."


	44. Chapter 45

45

Six Weeks

"Damn it!" Clark cursed, as the fifth diaper tore in his grasp.

Chloe laughed and took the bag from him. "No one tell the D.D.S. that I've found the ultimate way to confuse fearsome alien invaders."

"Uh-huh, Chloe. If I have to give Aunt Martha five dollars for swearing in Kryptonian, you're totally putting in ten for the a-word."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. It's not even a bad word," she huffed.

"In this house it so is," Kara quipped, scrunching up her nose as Clark tossed the used diaper into the trash. "Aunt Martha is on a huge kick to make sure no one uses that word around here, especially about us."

"I wasn't going to point to you and Clark in case the one month old was confused, yeesh," Chloe clarified.

"It's a bad habit," Kara sing songed. "Aunt Martha's got this huge rule, plus she totally confiscated all my Will Smith DVDs. I am in serious Men in Black withdrawal."  
>"Kara?"<p>

"What?" She asked, cooing a little at her nephew.

"Uh, you got caught by the actual MiB."

"Yeah, but if Carter had looked like Mr. Tall, Dark and Big-eared I'd have hung around."

"That's a scary amount of non-logic," Chloe remarked, rebuttoning up Kon's little Bob the Builder onesie. Clark sighed when he remembered there was a time when he had no idea that was even a word.

"Seriously, he's not even that hot but it's the ears. Like I said, higher civilizations? They've all embraced the nerd look. Kal never would have gotten laid back home."

"And that's five dollars from you Kara. Either we learn not to swear or we all go broke," Clark replied, waiting patiently for her to fish a five dollar bill from her wallet.

"Or," Chloe said, cradling Kon against her shoulder. "Kon has a college fund ready to go that doesn't even include Uncle Oliver or Uncle Lionel."

"Oh, Chlo, not you too. We are not going to start calling Lionel 'uncle' anything. It's creepy."

"Oh get over it, Kal," Kara snapped, taking Kon from Chloe and cradling him gently. "He's probably going to be your new stepfather eventually."

"As soon as all our blood tests come back 100% human," he groused. "No way, no how."

Kara laughed. "You're powers of denial always amaze me. I mean, really. If you hadn't had the team of doctors and the huge stomach and Kon's heartbeat and everything, I bet you'd still have yourself convinced that you weren't pregnant."

"I knew I was pregnant and that's another phrase you have to start dropping from your vocabulary. I can't explain to an over inquisitive three year old where he comes from."

"Three? With Chloe as the mom? He'll be demanding an in-depth interview at two, easy," She chirped. "Fine, I'll work on avoiding all the swear jar words. Even if I think 'alien' is a stupid one to have. Seriously, am I the only one who likes E.T. here?"

"Mom and Dad never let me watch that one," Clark muttered. "How did you even see it?"

"Jimmy has introduced me to the finer points of science fiction."

"Before or after you came out of the proverbial closet?" Chloe asked.

"He started before. It was so obvious we were going to work out. I mean, we really just need a few groupies."

"I am not a traveler groupie," Chloe replied. "Now hand back over my traveler son."

"Not a groupie, su-ure," Kara replied, stretching out the last word into two syllables. "You and Jimmy just have it bad for the highly evolved."

She snorted. "And the highly evolved ALFs around here can't make a diaper work."

"It's not about being smart," Clark defended.  
>"Besides, we didn't have these. This stuff is beyond primitive. You might as well just strap rocks or something to him."<p>

Chloe grinned and patted Clark's stomach. "Is this another one of those rants about how your technology-the stuff that blew the whole place up, remember, and kept you in stasis for two decades-is better than ours? I so don't buy it."

Clark snorted. "As the guinea pig in the whole set up, I have to tell you I'm not that thrilled with our technology either."

"We never had stupid things made of plastic that rip every five seconds either."

"That's the pain of superstrength that you two are going to have to adjust to," Chloe replied, setting Kon back in his crib. "Seriously, you had almost a month head start."

"And it's still a pain in the other a-word," Clark replied, eying the swear jar on top of Kon's dresser. "I'm not saying whatever there was in the before and the long, long ago was better, but there has to be something better than some plastic."

"In the olden days here ," Chloe muttered, "It was all cloth. Considering that the milk starts green and gets worse from there, you should be thankful for the finest that the Pampers cooperation supplies."

"Whatever," Kara replied, pausing when the phone rang. "And there's being saved by the dong."

"It's bell and…never mind," Clark said, picking up the receiver in Kon's room. "Hello? Kent Residence, Clark speaking."

"Did you know that this is a hard number to track down?"  
>Clark blinked. "Mr. White?"<p>

"The one and only."

"Oh, well if you needed Chloe, I think her cell is completely charged."

"And I talked to her about an hour ago before she had to run off and help Ms. Lang with something," Perry said, his tone amused. "I wasn't calling for her. I already have a nice set of quotes from her to integrate into a piece on the Johnson murder trial. It's not a business call."

"I see?"

"Firm statements there, kid. No I needed to talk to you. I…can you meet me in Metropolis in about three hours?"

"I can't give quotes, you know," Clark said uneasily. "My mom's press secretary gave everything official on Connor's birth last week. Besides, even if I was going to take interviews, I'd be giving them to Chloe and make The Ledger extra exciting."

Perry laughed. "And I don't do that kind of schmaltzy, puff piece crap either. Clark," he said, lowering his voice. "This is serious. I'd bring your cousin too. This concerns her as well."

"I don't understand."

"Clark, she's not your adoptive cousin, is she?"

He gulped and hoped it didn't sound too loud on the phone's amplifier. "What did you say?"

"Like I said, it's serious, and I need to talk to both of you. Clark, three hours at the diner across the street from the Planet. I'd ask for twenty minutes but there are appearances to keep up, aren't there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," he replied, clicking the phone off.

Clark swallowed again and cursed under his breath when the handset snapped in his grasp.

"Clark?" Chloe asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's that guy you work with, Chloe, the one who wrote all those stories about Uncle Lionel's trial."

"Still creepy to hear that," Clark muttered.

"Are you serious?" Chloe demanded. "What does he want with you?"

"I don't know. National senator's son, troubled pregnancy, any of that ring any bells?"

"And he didn't ask at all about Kon. He wanted to see me, too, and he implied that we could both be in Metropolis in under twenty minutes when he knows that we're still in Lowell County."

"Oh fuck!"

Kon, predictably, started crying when Chloe shouted and Clark shook his head as he felt his chest grow a little wet. "Okay, so I'm going to change first and then Kara and I are on damage control."

"He works with me. Shouldn't I be going?" She demanded, holding her chin high with her usual righteous indignation.

"And that ear-shattering wail would be Kon asking for one of his parents. Chlo, you can intimidate Perry later. Hell, take Dinah and Andrea with you when you do it, but someone needs to watch Kon and I promised him it would be just be me and Kara at the meeting."

"I'm usually the Butch to your Sundance."

"Llamas!" Kara shouted, picking Kon back up and trying to sush him in Kryptonian.

Chloe arched an eyebrow at his cousin. "What does that even mean?"

"The movie was shot in South America so yay llamas!"

"Higher life forms, my a-word," Chloe said, taking Kon back. "My son's going to grow up to be a big, dumb traveler, isn't he?'

"Ouch and you hit us all where we live," Clark replied, sighing as he slipped on an oversized sweatshirt. "Chlo, I promise that you can have your crack at him. I need someone to stay with Kon now."

"Kara's available."

"And he asked for her. Nothing's going to happen in the next few hours, okay? Give us until six o'clock and then you can maim Perry yourself."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him as she patted Kon's back. "You're not using him against me, are you?"

"Of course not. It's just that if one of us goes, the other has to stay or con my mom or something. She's in D.C. and Kara's on deck tonight so it's your turn."

Chloe shook her head and jiggled Kon a little on her hip . "Oh how I wish you'd never had sex."

"Swear jar!" Kara chirped, practically shoving the thing in Chloe's face, before taking his arm and dragging him to the Big Apricot.

Clark had eaten three slices of pie and watched Kara make a fort out of not only all the sugar packets on their table but also with the sugar packets on three of the neighboring tables. It had been a mind numbing three hours spent waiting for Perry. He should have stayed on the farm with his family, but he couldn't sit home either, trying to deflect Chloe's interrogation when he had no idea what Perry wanted or why everything was so urgent all of a sudden.

He could imagine some scenarios but all of them involved him and his immediate family either on prime time, in tiny cages, or a mixture of both.

"Kal, you're bending your fork again."

He sighed and eyed the crumpled piece of metal in his hand. "I know. I just wish he'd hurry up. I don't like waiting."

"You don't like waiting. I had to sit through six months to get to cute baby!"

"Kara, can you focus for about ten minutes?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I believe that I can, Kal-El. As far as I overheard, Perry White isn't even dropping hints any more, more like big ACME safes and he's asked to see both of us because he thinks we're…well, I assume he can pretty much guess who we are. So if I'd like to spend my three hours not worrying imaginary ulcers into my stomach lining and instead make an awesome stack of sugar packets before we probably have to relocate to Siberia or something, then I think I'm entitled. After all, I'm not the idiot who got knocked up by a rodent in the first place."

"That's a mouthful."

"You're very good at accusing me of being stupid when in the last year you've taken as many insane risks as I have, if not more," she said, frowning and quirking her head at him.

"What?"

"I...has your hearing been off lately?"

"Everything's been off lately," he groused "Did you know that my sense of smell still hasn't gone back to normal? I'm never going to eat bananas again."

Kara smirked. "I should get an order of those just because, but I'm serious. I've been hearing this weird buzzing or something lately. Sometimes it's better in Metropolis. Did someone put in a radio tower or something near the back forty? I thought I'd been imagining it, but I swear it's been going on for at least three or four months."

Clark frowned and perked up his own hearing. In a diner, even one with multiple health code violations and about three customers before the dinner rush, there was a myriad of noises-the clanging of the register, the smacking of lips, the heartbeats of the patrons and wait staff-but now that Kara mentioned it, he could discern just the slightest high pitch whine. "No, I hear that too. I…you said it's been four months?"

She shrugged, "Maybe five. Maybe I've just jacked into something new, annoying, and construction related in Lowell County. At least I'm not the only one who's heard it."

"Yeah, I can't explain this one. My hearing and sense of smell have been so screwed up since Kon, um..."

"Took up residence in your stomach," Kara replied quietly, looking over her shoulder as she spoke.

"Basically." He sighed. "I vote we worry about strange buzzing noises second and intrusive nationally syndicated reporters first."

"Deal," she replied shaking his hand.

"And that's the All-American camaraderie and family togetherness crap that will get your mom re-elected about eight hundred times," Perry replied. "Clark, good to see you."

It was Kara who beat him to everything. "I don't do pleasantries and neither of us is in the mood for it. You want to talk, go ahead and play Deep End."

"Throat, Kara," Clark replied, sighing. "She's not really a history buff."

"I'd bet not so much," Perry replied, eying her and taking a seat at the booth across from both of them.

"What do you want?" She repeated, her tone icy.

"That's not overplaying a hand," Clark complained. "Kara, take it down about ten notches. We're meeting at Ed's . It's not exactly a scene from a Bond film."

"Uh-huh but there was a lot of baiting and not a lot of useful information on the phone when he called."

"That's true. I try not to say too much on the phone. It's my cell, but it's not as if The Planet is a safe place to talk anymore. Freedom of speech is dead there."  
>Clark frowned. "I don't think I'm following you."<p>

"Junior's been monitoring e-mails and going through employee hard drives for months. Someone that paranoid? I wouldn't put him past it to bug the whole place."

"Bug?" Clark asked and something about that seemed eerily topical.

"I can't prove it, but the less said in a building he owns, operates, and has declared himself emperor of, the better."

"What do you think we're going to talk about that is so sensitive? I've got nothing much to share except the latest on my rehiring at The Talon and Ka…Clark's been busy changing diapers. It's not going to be extremely Planet worthy," Kara groused and Clark clamped a hand on her wrist to keep her from leaning across the table and grabbing the reporter. It gave him the oddest feeling, restraining his cousin, as if she'd somehow become his consigliore.

"Mr. White, I have to say I'm confused here. I meant what I said about not offering quotes about my son or about my girlfriend's condition."

J'onn, quite nicely disguised as his mom's chief public relations aide, had not only released information, including the faked birth certificate, to the press a week ago about Connor Kent's birth, but he'd also mentioned that Lana had been suffering from anemia as well. It was a nice convenient way to explain why the whole family was still keeping quiet on the farm. Of course, even that couldn't explain why Lana wasn't out and about forever. He had no idea what to do about that and he had a sinking suspicion he was about to have an even more dire problem ahead of it on his list.

"It's not about either of those things. Gossip column stuff doesn't interest me. Sorry, I'd much rather write about your mother's newest policies or legislation than speculate on your love life, although, kid, I gotta say. You did a lot of stuff backwards. If you wanted to keep low profile back like you did when I was at X-Styles having your mom in the national spotlight was a huge mistake and screwing around with the ex-wife of the richest man in the country didn't help things either."

"I wasn't screwing around, exactly."

"The Kent bundle of joy had to come from somewhere. I'm just saying that you've seemed to go out of your way lately to be in the spotlight and I don't think it's doing your family any good."

"More with the cryptic. Would you like to try actually elaborating on a point for once?" Kara groused.

"I can do that," Perry replied, taking a swig of his coffee and frowning. Clark wondered idly if, even after all this time, the Pit Bull wished for alcohol instead. "Lex has been culling out the best investigative reporters on his staff for a special project. He approached me but I declined the offer."

"You can decline anything when the paper's owner asks?" Clark marveled.

"No, but I did show him a sample of how far I got the last time I tried something similar and he was unimpressed."

Clark gulped. "Last time?"

"Clark, Kara," he added as an afterthought. "Lex has hand selected three of the best writers under the Tiffanies to help him gather information on the two of you."

Clark tried to keep the bravado in his tone. "Lex has been researching me since I was a freshman in high school. This is not that much of a surprise. It fits his M.O."

"Does he usually abuse company resources to do it? I know the guys. Lex went for the young and flashy, a few of the Gabriel hires, but the kids aren't half bad. Whatever they're looking to find, they will. I just found it faster."

"Found what?" Kara demanded.  
>"Inconsistencies in his adoption and in the story of your happy home life."<p>

"Is this the blackmail part of the evening?" she asked and Clark gulped as her clenched knuckles turned white.

"Of course not. I'm not that kind of guy, never have been, and I'm the kind of journalist who works on putting the corrupt in their place and not on tearing good people down. I don't know what else you are, but good people definitely describes both your cousin and Senator Kent."

Clark shuddered at the way Perry phrased that. "I don't…then what are you getting at?"

"I heard the whispers of Lex's special project and I dug first on my own. Everyone knows about Metropolis United Charities thanks to Rachel Dunleavy's craziness ."

"Clark," Kara enunciated carefully and he was sure she was trying not to slip into nicknames in front of Perry. "What does he mean about that?"

He sighed. There were so many things on both sides they hadn't confided to each other. He hadn't had time in the middle of Bizarro and Zor-El and everything in between to explain every bit of his life to Kara, and she'd forgotten that tiny little pregnancy detail. "Lionel arranged my adoption. There's nothing necessarily wrong with foundation he started to do it, but it only lasted six months and only handled two adoptions-mine and Lex's half brother, but everyone in Kansas has known that for over five years. It's not new."

"No, it's not, but the people who forged your records are good. Whoever did Kara's, and I suspect the Lady Editor had a hand in it, was better. Kid, yours are some of the best fakes I've ever seen, but they're still obviously fakes if you know your stuff. Kara's are significantly harder to see through but your stuff? The doctor's visits and the agency letters?"

"What about them?" Clark asked.

"Might as well be Monopoly money. It was never real. If I were you, I'd put whoever made Kara's stuff on that and revise. It's a miracle no one caught onto it all back when your mom first got sworn into national office. Kara, your stuff is still going to need to be fixed. They've held so far and I don't know why, but under enough scrutiny, no one's going to buy either of them."

"Excuse me?" She gruffed.

The old reporter rolled his eyes impatiently. "The records are excellent, indistinguishable from the true government issue stuff, but it still conflicts. There's no record of anyone in Jonathan Kent's side of the family having a cousin-first, second or removed-around his age. The documents say you exist, but I have a friend who lives outside of Duluth. He did me a favor. There certainly isn't any Kent Farm out there, no two dogs or anything else."

Kara glared at him. "Then your sources got it wrong. I'm from Minnesota and all of Clark's medical records are fine."

"For a cursory glance or even a second time over, sure they are, but people who are digging, really trying? They are going to find what's wrong with them, and they're going to find more than that. I don't know how you're keeping the mainstream press happy with it or how you've kept Lex away from it as long as you have, but Connor wasn't born at Smallville Medical Center."

"And now I do have to ask if you're hosed again," Kara bit back.

Clark shook his head and frowned apologetically at Perry. "Sauced, Kara, and that's a horrible thing to ask. She's sorry…uh, we both are."

"I sure as Hell am not sorry. He's making shit up, Kal."

Clark closed his eyes and just restrained himself from cursing. "Family name."

"Which family is a more pointed question, kid. Look, I spent more than my fair share of time covering the minutia of Lowell County. I got stuck there with you, but there were a few stories in my time in Granville and other places. The Lady Editor's theory must have some merit because there are some bizarre things in your county. I got to know the hospital staff there after a few brushes between me and the DTs. There were people on staff I knew well enough to call and double check the story for me. No one in the Kent family has been there in ten or eleven months. There's no record of Lana having an obstetrician anywhere if you dig hard enough. You've got the birth certificate and a doctor willing to vouch for it who's so old that he probably delivered your grandfather, Clark, but you bribe the right candy striper and poof! The whole thing collapses."

"I don't know-"

"What I'm talking about. Of course, you don't, but I thought you'd want to know this. I don't know what you can do to make the cover story stick better, but you need something. Get a few extra doctors on staff to corroborate things, add a foot note to Kara's records saying her parents are on a PeaceCorp mission or something to Tanzania. Whatever it takes, because those kids under the Tiffanies are going to figure this all out too and get it to Lex."

"And you're just warning us out of the goodness of your heart?" Kara sneered. "If you're looking for money or something, a farmer is a pretty stupid person to ask."

"I'm not. Clark saved my life once after everything I'd done to make his miserable and I'm returning some of that favor. Lex has it out for the both of you and he's upped the game by using the Planet to get whatever he wants out of you. I can't guess what it is exactly, but he's looking for a smoking gun and I think he's going to find it if he keeps pressing."

Clark bent his head low and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't figure out Lex's game at all. The other man knew enough to know that having every color Kryptonite available to him was a worthwhile investment. He had the advanced warning and, God maybe even the spies in place, to be able to sneak up on him at The Talon. Lex had been tangling with Lana for months, probably hoping to weasel the truth out of her. It must have frustrated him to no end when she did one decent thing in her life and kept her mouth shut for her son's sake. And yet…Lex was still waiting and making his staff go through the details of things he already knew were frauds, like Clark's adoption.

"I…thanks for all of this. Is there anything else we need to know?"

"Two things," Perry replied, placing two glossy photos on the table in front of him. Clark frowned down at them. One was of Lana on a balcony of some expensive Metropolis building and the other was a grainy surveillance photo of him entering into the Planet. It had been taken the day of his first glitch because his poor (and now defunct) sweatshirt had a huge gash in it. Taking a closer look, Clark shook his head. Glitch or not, he'd been stupid to go to the Planet that late into his pregnancy. It wasn't nearly as obvious as he'd been in the last month before Kon's birth, but anyone who knew him and was really looking, as Lex was, would recognize how off he'd looked then.

"Photos, that's nice," Kara replied, her tone still non-plussed.

"The one of Lana was taken at a fundraiser for the Metropolis Opera House around what should have been her fifth month of pregnancy. You can see the bulge in her stomach clear as anything. Same photographer caught her drinking champagne in a corner. I traced the records. It was one of the DP's staff. Lex refused to print it."

"Well it was nice of him not to spread around things about Lana's drinking problem," Kara said as genuinely as possible.

Perry frowned. "Lana's reputation precedes her, you know. She was in the public eye during her first pregnancy and she never went near anything stronger than seltzer water. It doesn't fit, and if you looked at the photo of Clark from about the same time…"

"Are you implying something?" Kara snapped.

Clark let out a steady breath. He was impressed in a way. His cousin would have made a Hell of a lawyer. "Mr. White, I really don't know what you're trying to get at here."

Perry looked over his shoulders and then hunched forward, keeping his voice low. "Kid, I know what I saw when I came through Smallville the first time, no matter how drunk I was. It's been a few years now and I've seen more of Smallville and Lowell County and there have been some bizarre things that have turned up since then. I'm talking about underground rings like in Lane's article and mutilations reaching from Patagonia to Quebec."

Clark flinched at the mention of Bizarro. "And this has what to do with me and Kara?"

"I can't quite decide on who you two are. You could be a meteor mutant like the Lady Editor."

Clark crossed his arms over his chest. "I think I've had enough of your accusations for one night."

"And Chloe's the most full service partner I've ever had, kid. We were following leads on an Intergang owned gambling parlor downtown and I was on the wrong end of a lead slug. I'd be dead if it weren't for her."

"You can keep a secret?" Kara scoffed.

"When someone saves my life, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt. My point is that with all the inconsistencies in your records, plus all the things I saw Clark do, I don't think you're two normal kids from Kansas and Minnesota. I'm not quite convinced you're meteor-infected either, not with as many powers as you have."

"I don't have any powers, Mr. White. We went through this five years ago," Clark replied tiredly.

"As far as I can tell, you're still fast, strong, nearly invulnerable and heal almost instantaneously." Perry glanced down at the photo from DP hallway and grinned. "I'd bet my Pulitzer that probably your least favorite ability is the one that allowed you to carry Connor to term."

Clark blushed. "You're crazy."

"I don't think so, not after everything I've seen and managed to piece together. Lana doesn't have doctors' records. No one's even seen her anywhere in the last three months, and I've heard things."

Clark's eyes widened. "What kind of things?"

"Lois, mostly. She didn't mean to say anything, but the girl can't keep her mouth shut. She made a big deal a few times with her cousin about your 'mono' and how much weight you were gaining, how sensitive you were to the smell of her hotdogs-which, incidentally, do smell like crap. No one else ever pays much attention to those kinds of things, but it's enough. I'm right, aren't I?"

"In the headed for Belle Reve way," Kara added.

"If that's how you want to play it," Perry replied sadly. "I wouldn't trust a top reporter either, outside of Miss Sullivan and, apparently, Miss Lane and Mr. Olsen."

"Huh?" He asked.

"Whatever the you two have going, most of the basement staff is in on it. Lois stopped mentioning you about the time you stopped coming by and it's quite obvious how attached your cousin is to Jimmy."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I get in trouble for Miss Sweet Corn but you're the one who's got the senator mom and the paparazzi trailing us."

"Sorry?" Clark said, wishing he sounded more confident. He'd never thought all that much about the occasional photo snapped here or there in Metropolis of him with Lana or of Senator Martha Kent's niece and "special friend."

"My point is that I can fill in the gaps. Wherever your abilities come from, you certainly have them, and whatever else Connor might be, he's clearly yours , Clark."

"Of course he's mine."

"And I mean straight from your own womb, then," Perry clarified. "The other reporters are Gabriel hires, like I said. They worked for The Enquirer and The Inquisitor before they worked here. They're going to see it too, if they haven't already gotten it to Lex. I felt it was fair to warn you. I don't know what you can do about it and I'll try and bury whatever I get my hands on first, but he's gunning for you, kid."

Clark shuddered. "I know that. I know he's after me and Kon, and I'm trying to figure a way out of everything right now, but it's all a big mistake. Lex is paranoid. There's nothing different at all about me or Kara or my son."

"It's a good thing being struck by lightning can't hurt you because that's the boldest lie I've ever heard," Perry replied. "Alright, we'll play it your way. The three of you are completely and boringly normal. What about him?" Perry asked, pushing one final glossy across the table.

Clark frowned at the little boy with the wide green eyes and floppy hair. "Where did you get this?"

"Lex may have a reporter for each of you, but he also has someone set aside just for some kid in New Mexico-if they'd lived in Roswell, I'd have loved the irony. The question isn't 'where is this from,' kid. The real question here is, 'how is one Jackson Donovan connected to any of the rest of you?'"

"Don't play games with us now," Kara spat.

"I'm not. Lex hasn't gotten anything substantial on the kid as far as I can tell. He's not even related to that poor bastard who died by the same M.O. as the serial killer who stalked the Slums last year."

"He's not?" Clark asked carefully.

"No, his birth records all have him tied up with his mom's previous husband. The dates seem a little fuzzy, but according to all his records, Jackson is not related to the late Dexter Donovan."

Clark let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, Dexter had thought about how to cover his family's tracks and had done so fairly carefully. "Lex has people on him?"

"At least one and they've been watching him for about two months."

Kara cursed, luckily for the both of them in English, and then whispered to Clark. "They've been watching us first and then you went to see Ms. Donovan and Lex realized the Dax-Ur had more than rock samples to offer him."

"I…no way."

"Clark?" Perry prodded, distressed by having been left out of the conversation.

"I…Chloe and I visited Ms. Donovan because we were following up on a lead about the serial killings in Metropolis. If Lex has had had people trailing me for a few months now, then that might be why he became so interested in Jackson to begin with."

"This goes deeper than some unexplained serial murders, doesn't it?" Perry asked, his interest piqued. "The two of you, Connor, Jackson, and the late Dexter Donovan, you all have the same abilities. You're all connected in this."

"Didn't say that," Kara replied.

"And you didn't have to. Really, kids, don't give interviews ever. Let Jimmy and Chloe handle the press and, if they ambush, stick with no comments. You two can't lie to save your souls."

If we have them .

Clark shook himself out of such a melancholy thought. "I appreciate you tipping us off. This could help all of us, but there are things I could never tell you because they aren't even mine to tell."

Perry eyed the photo of Jackson on the swing set. "They're his secrets too, aren't they?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Kara hedged. "It's better if you pretend you never knew any of this and better still if you stopped asking questions."

Perry nodded and passed a small sheaf of papers to Clark. "These are all the documents I found in your pasts that were questionable and suggestions for how to cover your tracks better from senior reporters. I hope it helps. Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"You've thought ahead, haven't you?"

"Mr. White, believe me when I say that Kon's mother has been very sick." He didn't appreciate Kara's snort. Technically, no matter what his stupid ancestors had done to him, he wasn't the mother, but it was about ten times more complicated to say, "The parent who bore Kon was very sick."

"I can see that," Perry replied. "I never thought Miss Sullivan would quit The Planet, but she was very worried for Connor's health and, of course, for Lana's ."

"Uh, right," Clark continued. "We haven't had time to think much past Defcon 1 for months."

"Then start doing it now. Someone is going to have to start ensuring that not just your and Kara's medical records are authentic-"

"They are!" Kara insisted.

"Doth protest too much," Perry grumbled. "You have to make sure you keep up with Connor's own doctor visits and vaccinations. I don't think he's going to need them for real, but someone, somewhere, has to produce them. I assume, considering how close Lionel and your mother are, that you'd be wise to make it the Luthor family physician. Lex can hardly argue with the same man who gave him all his checkups too."

Clark considered that. "That's actually not a bad idea, not that Kon doesn't already go to doctors and stuff."

Perry sighed and pulled at a wad of rumpled dollar bills. "Stick to 'no comment.' You'll do better." Standing up, he pulled back on his trench coat and added. "It's not the three of you that I'm the most worried about."

"You're not?" Kara asked.

"Oh, I'd take Junior seriously, but what I meant was that you, Clark, have a history of getting out of tight situations. Your mom has been in the public eye for over three years now and you've managed to keep everything covered up. I'm worried about that kid you don't really know in a town you have no reason to have ever visited."

Clark waited until Perry was out the door before he answered, "Me too."


	45. Chapter 46

46

"So he knows ?" Chloe asked, pacing their room.

Clark sighed and perked up his ears. Kon was still sleeping soundly in his crib but he had a feeling that Chloe was about to work herself up into a frenzy and a lot of shouting. "I don't think he does."

"You know I talked to Kara first, right? He might not have quite figured out the phone home part, although the Roswell joke doesn't fill me with confidence, but Perry does know you have powers and that you're kind of like Kon's mom."

"First, that's your job description. I just did the annoying back pain and waddling bit. Second, he just showed a few pictures and mentioned that he'd heard Lois make fun of me for gaining weight. I cannot wait for the rest of you to get pregnant, by the way. You are so overdue for being mocked."

"Sorry," she replied. "Lois and Kara are just a little thoughtless."

"And Metropolis is just a large town," he deadpanned. "I don't know exactly. Honestly, I think Perry has everything figured out, no matter how much we lied today, but he doesn't want to run a story."

Chloe snorted, "Senator Kent's Son: Pregnant Super-powered Alien."

"Swear jar," he corrected. "Also, that would never be the headline of the Planet."

"When Grant was there, it would have been. If Lex's team ever gets enough to prove that, though, he'd never print it. Having your secret? That's complete power over you, us, and your mom and he knows that."

"Lex isn't going to find out," Clark said, wincing a little as Chloe started rummaging through the closet. "Looking for something?"

"Pajamas mostly," she replied, pulling out her Fraggle purse and tossing it onto a chair. Clark winced again and then Kon started crying. He was back from the nursery with their son in his arms before Chloe could blink. "That's convenient." She frowned and sat beside both of them on the bed. "Is he okay? You just fed him-"

"Thanks for reminding me," Clark huffed, rocking Kon a little.  
>"And he was having his nap and he's not wet."<p>

Clark sniffed. "No, I'd know that."

"He's not sick, is he?"

Clark shook his head and shushed their son a little. "No, I…there's been this buzzing lately."

"Huh?"

"I thought it was just me and then Kara mentioned it today at the diner. I've been hearing this hum and it's like this buzz, kind of like that guy in your dorm freshman year who had 'borrowed' the cable but the connection made this high-pitched whine because it was jerry-rigged."

"Yeah, I remember. You refused to even try coming over after you and Lana broke up because the noise was that bad."

"Exactly, it's like that. It was kind of like background noise but it got worse just a few minutes ago." He frowned and kept rocking Kon, struggling in vain to get him to stop crying. "Did they do construction or a radio tower or something new in the county lately?"

"No public works that I know of. Did your hearing get more acute?"

"Mine did, but both Kon and Kara shouldn't be extra sensitive. It's not awful. It's just probably annoying him right now," he finished, stroking Kon's bangs. "Hey, buddy. Shh, it's okay."

Chloe sighed and stroked Kon's hand. "Clark, that's not a good thing. If it's not a radio tower or something in the city…there has to be a reason you've been hearing things lately. When did you notice it, outside of what Kara said?"

"Maybe when you moved onto the farm, but I doubt you're the culprit, Chlo."

"I didn't say that," she said, reaching out a hand and concentrating. A faint rose red glow spread over Kon and, as he quieted back to sleep, Chloe winced. "You guys hear that all the time and you just start complaining now?"

"Fatal pregnancy and dead wife, I was preoccupied and wasn't worried about a little ringing," he said tiredly. "I don't know what it means. It could be nothing. It could be the Hubbards have new farm equipment or that the town switched cable services or that our hearing was always just going to get more acute."

"Or it could be something else," she said, sticking her index finger in her ear. "That ringing sounds electronic."

"Hence some kind of construction or whatever. I thought we were arguing about Perry and Lex."

"A 'get in line' type deal?"

"Something like that," he replied, rocking Kon just a little. "What do we do now?"

"I called Ollie and J'onn. They're on top of doing everything Perry said and then some. We can't get back any of the security footage from the DP, but Lex saw you in person and then he saw you again a month ago."

"I don't think he saw below the steering wheel," Clark defended.

"But he already noticed the weight gain part." She sighed, "I feel handicapped. I can't even tell what Lex wants. He has the Kryptonite. He knows that Arrow must have a Kryptonian working with him or his men wouldn't have been ready for Kara. He's at least hinted that Lana might not have been the one carrying Kon-"

"And Kon's still here and so am I a month after the fact. If he knew enough to get the Blue and Gold K, then he should be here right now, but he hasn't come at all. What's he waiting for?"

Chloe frowned at the picture of Jackson that Perry had given him. "Maybe he's waiting for a full set?"

"Jackson and Kon shouldn't be a part of any of this at all."

"And neither should you or Kara even. You're all still pretty young. I don't think there's a correct age for being made into a lab rat, but you can ask all the 33.1 inmates about that," she snapped.

"I'm sorry….I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, and I'm the one who brought up 33.1 at all. My point is that he might be interested in all of you. It's not just you and Kara. Connor and Jackson….they're almost more valuable. If we're right about what Connor can do when he's old enough, then he and Jackson both have at least one more ability than either you or Kara do."

"And they might not be as affected by the Kryptonite."

She shrugged. "I'm not willing to risk that, ever, but you could see how intrigued Lex would be with all of it. It's not just the last two survivors of Krypton he can move on when he's ready. Jackson and Kon…they're a new type of people, really."

"Species," Clark sniffed, holding Kon tighter.

"I didn't say that. Half-Kryptonian or half-squirrel," she replied, grinning. "Kon's my son, but I meant that you have someone unique, at least since some time five hundred years ago in China or Egypt. One of you would be priceless but the four of you together, especially Kryptonians with the potential to have none of your weaknesses?"  
>Clark shivered. "I can see your point. He can't have any of us, but he definitely can't have Jackson or Kon. I won't let him near either of them. Iad , Kon's barely a month old and Jackson's not even nine yet. What kind of a monster would-"<p>

" Lex would," Chloe finished. "Look, we've got Arrow on fixing your records and we've got Dinah on keeping Lana secure. Lex won't move until he can prove something, you know he wouldn't. Who you are puts you in the spotlight more than it should-"

"Because of my powers?"

"No, because your mom's a senator, but it's a good thing, too. He can't move on you without doing something insanely illegal. It's a much bigger deal when a senator's family goes missing."

"Yay for special treatment."

"I'm just saying that if he's going to make his move, he's going to do it when he has all the cards in order and he doesn't. We just have to keep him away from the farm and from you guys."

"But Mary Donovan doesn't have the resources of Lionel or the League behind her. She doesn't even know the kind of danger that's after her."

"Then maybe we need to figure out how deeply Lex is digging and then we can figure out how to help both of them."

"So, we're going to New Mexico?"

"Exactly," she replied, leaning against his shoulder. "But first we're going to try getting some rest." She sighed and kissed the crown of Kon's head. "Is the noise better?"

"It's really not so bad," he lied. "Just…try and get some rest, okay?"

"I can do that," she replied, snuggling closer into him, and, for all the tenseness of the day, Clark at least felt better.

"You see him, don't you?" Chloe asked, pointing at the man in the rumpled suit who was casually sitting on the park bench.

"Him? Yeah, I noticed he didn't have any kids or an I-pod or book or anything. He's just staring at the sandbox."

"Where Jackson is."

"Yup," Clark replied, nodding. "Do you know him?"

"It's Johnson from the top floor. I bumped into him once or twice, sneaking up to see Perry. He's good."

"And obvious."

"Not that obvious to everyone else. You can see that he's been here for almost an hour."

"So have we," Clark defended.

"We brought an alibi," Chloe replied, pointing to his stomach. They had one of those carrier things and now Kon was resting, papoose style, right over Clark's middle. It was a little like the olden days, except for him getting to keep his powers and looking a lot less like a kangaroo.

"True, damn!"

"Swear jar," Chloe hissed.

"I know, but he's heading to that café, maybe he's calling in something to Lex."

"I'll trail him. You keep an eye on Jackson, okay?"

"You sure? I can just perk up my ears…"

She shook her head. "I want to see how the operation is being run. I'll be back in about five minutes, okay?"

"Fine," he replied, watching her kiss Kon and then him. Oh well, he was getting used to coming in second, and if he had to do it, doing it to the cutest baby in the universe (and Clark was in no way biased no matter what Lois said) wasn't so bad.

Clark sighed and watched Chloe slip away. "See, buddy, that's what mommy does for a living. She trails after bad men and gives daddy heart attacks."

Kon looked up at him and gurgled.

"You're not anymore talkative than you were two months ago, you know."

"He's cute."

Clark blinked up from Kon and realized that Jackson was standing in front of him. From where Clark sat, he could make out the gleaming blue pendant around Jackson's neck. It had been carefully etched into the symbol for "hope" and it was enough to make Clark sick. He didn't care how badly Dax-Ur had needed to hide Jax, there was nothing hopeful or good about poisoning one's son.

"I think he is," he replied smoothly. "Uh, don't you want to go back to the sandbox now?"

Jackson shrugged and sat down on the bench next to Clark. "The other kids don't like me very much."

"Why?" Clark asked and then he let out a sharp breath. "I'm sorry that was rude. I didn't mean to."

"No, it's okay. They don't like me. I skipped a bunch of grades and I do weird things."

Clark frowned. "You do?"

He nodded. "I can remember tons of stuff. I never have to even study for tests or anything and, sometimes, even if I don't want it to, if I get mad, things happen."

"Jax, maybe you shouldn't be telling me things like this. You don't even know me."

Jax frowned. "Sure I do. You visited my dad. He knows you and you visited my mom, too."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did. I was coming in the back door right when you and the pretty lady with the blonde hair were leaving. You know my parents."

Clark sighed. "So much for incognito."

"Huh?"

"Jax, I don't think your mom wants me to hang out with you all that much."

Jax concentrated on him and his eyes were eerily intense. "But you know about me, don't you? You know that I'm special. I heard you tell my mom that when you were looking for my dad's papers. You remember things too, don't you?"

"Everything," Clark confessed. "I remember everything that's ever happened to me and I remember everything I've ever heard or read. I didn't have to study in school either."

"And you love Calculus too, don't you?"

"I don't love it, actually. I want to be a writer when I grow up." Clark paused and laughed at that.

"What's so funny?"

"I am grown up. I…this is my son Kon."

Jax quirked his head at Kon but didn't touch him. "I know. He wasn't here before."

"Well, no, he's just a month old."

"But he was here, kind of, when you visited. I heard it."

Clark shook his head. "No you didn't."

"Yes, I did. I…sometimes I hear things from far away. Not often. Most of the time the weird things I do are all in my head, like how I can do math so well or how hitting a baseball is so easy because the ball always looks slow to me."

Clark nodded, "It does to me too."

"Yeah, but sometimes I hear things. I was getting a soda out of the cabinet and I heard Kon. I heard the other heartbeats in the room with me and there were four of them."

Clark sighed and looked down at Jax. "Your necklace wasn't touching your skin was it?"

He shook his head. "It's a pendant. Necklaces are for girls. Also, yeah. Sometimes if I move it, different things happen. I took it off once and I just felt different."

"Different?"

"Stronger, but then I got scared mom would know I'd taken it off and put it back on." He frowned. "I don't like wearing it, but dad made me promise."

Clark swallowed and hated himself for what he was about to say. "You can't ever take it off. Your mom and dad told you that, didn't they?"

He nodded, "Uh-huh. I'm supposed to always wear it and I'm not supposed to tell people about the way things move too slow sometimes or about how good my memory can be."

"Exactly."

"You don't have one."

"Huh?"

"You and Kon, you don't have anything blue at all. My dad had a bracelet he wore because he could do special things too. I saw him take it off once. He doesn't know I did, but I saw what happened when it wasn't there."

"What happened?"

"He went running and he was so fast. I could see him but my mom couldn't. I can't do that."

Clark nodded. "The blue stuff is very important, Jax. It's how your father wanted to keep you safe."

"From who?"

"Jax," Clark started, sighing again. This would be a conversation he'd be having again with Kon and probably more than once. God knew he and his own father had argued a lot over keeping his powers a secret. "Other people can't do what we can. They don't remember things or run fast or hear so well."

"I know. That's why only a few kids play with me."

Clark nodded and barely resisted the urge to squeeze Jax's shoulder. He was part of his family in that same odd way the Kawatchee tribe had now accepted him and Kon and Kara, but Jax was still not his son. His responsibility, sure, but never his son. "I didn't have a lot of friends when I was your age either."

"Because we're different?"

"Yes, and there are a lot of people who'd be very jealous if they knew just how special you were. They'd want to…Jax, it's just not good to show off your powers, okay?"

"What would they do?"

"Nothing. Just don't tell anybody about what you can do and keep the blue stuff on like your promised your dad, okay?"

"But you and Kon-"

"I'm here to take care of Kon, but your dad's not here to help you with the hearing and maybe the running if you could even do it. This is the way he wanted it and you're not ready for anything else."

"But you could help me be ready."

Clark shook his head. "Not right now. One day, I promise. If you need to talk to me, I'll come find you."

"Really?"

He nodded. "I always hear even better than you can on your best day." And exponentially better since the hormones had changed everything. Clark concentrated and forced himself to memorize the rhythm of Jax's heartbeat which, like his and Kara's, was slower than a regular human's. "Your mommy has my phone number if you ever want to talk to me, but if you're ever in trouble and you need me, you just have to scream."

"But you live in Metropolis. The blonde lady said so."

"I'll still hear you, I promise. You just have to yell for 'Clark' and I'll come, no matter what."  
>Jax nodded, his wide eyes solemn. "But you and Kon won't come to visit me, will you?"<p>

"No, your mom doesn't like me very much and it's not safe for you to be seen with me either."

"You're like me."

Clark shook his head. "No, I'm not, exactly. Connor is, though. He's going to grow up to be just like you."

Jax frowned down at the sleeping baby. "Do things break when he's upset? I don't mean to do it, but sometimes the windows break or my mashed potatoes explode or stuff in art class gets hurt. I don't mean to, I swear."

"I know you don't. It's not your fault. Kon can't do it right now, but when he was still in his mommy's tummy, he used to make things break too. It's just something special only the two of you can do."

"You can't?"

"Nope."

"The tall lady can't either?"

"The what?"

"Jackson Dean Donovan, what are you doing?" Mary demanded, stalking over to them. Despite his returned invulnerability, Clark was suddenly very afraid. She looked like she was ready to tear him apart.

"I'm talking to your friend, Mr. Clark."  
>"Jackson, go back to the sandbox, I need to talk to Mr. Clark for a minute," his mother said, eying Clark angrily.<p>

He shrugged, "Okay." Before he left, though, he leaned over and gave Clark a quick hug. "Thanks for talking to me. It's so cool that Kon's just like me. Too bad he's just a baby, though." And with that, Jackson rushed out (human speed, of course) and back to the sandbox.

Clark looked up at Mary, "I can explain."

"What you're doing here, interfering with my son after I told you never to bother either of us again. I'm not even surprised. There's been this blonde girl, much taller than Chloe, who sometimes shows up here. She talks to Jax too but when she does it, she speaks strangely."

"Kara," Clark hissed.

"She's the fourth, isn't she? She's your cousin?"

He nodded. "I had no idea she'd been meeting with Jax at all. I didn't even know she knew where to find him."

"And that quaint gibberish she has Jackson repeating everywhere, what is that? I sometimes heard Dexter mumble in it in his nightmares."

"I…" Clark floundered. "It's her native language."

"Not yours?"

"I grew up here, speaking English," he admitted. "I can speak the other just as well as Dexter could or Kara does, but it doesn't really feel like my language. I had no idea she was doing that. I'm going to talk to her about that right away."

"I don't want you to talk with her. I want the both of you to leave my son alone. He has a hard enough time as it is trying to fit in. He doesn't need to learn some bizarre dialect from your cousin or to hear about your son's abilities." She snorted and looked down at Clark, "He doesn't need to end up like you."

"Like me?"

Mary narrowed her eyes at his stomach, which was considerably smaller than it had been the month before, though not completely normal for him yet, and then at Kon. "I'm not a fool. I'm not a math prodigy like my husband and my son, but I'm not stupid either. Wherever you and Dexter came from…I don't want Jackson to be a part of that culture."

"I'm not forcing anything on him. I was telling him to keep his pendant on and to never tell people about his powers. He was way too upfront with me."

"Fine then. Message delivered. Why are you even back?"

Clark bowed his head. "Do you know who Lex Luthor is?"

She nodded. "He's the richest man in the country. Why do I care?"

"He sent one of the best reporters at The Daily Planet to town two months ago to spy on your son. So far, he hasn't found anything and since the blue meteor rock keeps Jax pretty normal, he's not going to."

"Define 'pretty normal.' What happens if I take the rock off?"

"Don't ask me that again. I won't answer it. You keep it on and, aside from his intelligence, there's nothing noticeable about Jax. You take it off and then Lex finds what he's looking for."

"And what is he looking for?" She prodded.

Clark hesitated and stared down at Kon. "Proof that Jax is just like me or Kon."

What Mary did next surprised him. Reaching over, she pulled the tiny pair of Oakley's (specially commissioned gift from Ollie) off of Kon's face. Kon blinked up at her before slipping his thumb into his mouth and falling back to sleep. "Jackson's eyes looked like that until he was eleven months old. I've never seen any infant anywhere before or since who looked like eyes don't look like that."

"And I don't know what you're getting at," Clark gritted out.

"Where were you and my husband from? It wasn't Eastern Europe."

"It is if I say it is," Clark replied, his tone clipped. "Lex Luthor is dangerous and psychotic."

"Lex Luthor? The same man who's given millions to hospice and other charities? The one who rebuilt Metropolis from scratch after Dark Thursday? That Lex Luthor? He's an even bigger philanthropist than Alfred Pennyworth or Oliver Queen."

"And he hurts people too. He does experiments on people whom he thinks has abilities. Jax is so very smart. He'd be a target. I have half a dozen friends, I've busted out of his labs and the things he does…he tortures people, Mrs. Donovan. If he gets his hands on Jax, he'll hurt him too."

"Why is Lex even interested in my son? I sold someone from Cadmus the meteor rocks and that was the extent of our business together. How does he even know that Jackson is connected to you?"

"I think he must have had someone on me when I came here last time. It doesn't matter. You and Jax aren't safe and you can't stay here," Clark fished in his wallet for the information Ollie had given him. "Here, take this."

Mary eyed the card warily as if it were a proffered mousetrap before taking it. "This is Oliver Queen's private number. How many billionaires do you know, Clark?"

"He's the only one that matters. Please, go to Star City and take a job offer from him. He can put you in a penthouse in Queen Towers near his. He can put his personal security on you as well. It's the safest thing for both of you and he can give you a fresh start after everything with Dexter."

"So I'm going to take off across the country and abandon my job and my friends and family because you led someone to my family?"

"I didn't mean to!" Clark defended and Kon started to cry. He cursed quietly and hunched over on himself, even as he felt his chest grow damp. He'd worn a green shirt (in light of nature's latest joke, he'd changed his whole wardrobe colors for the duration of the nursing) and he hoped nothing was so obvious.

Mary shook her head, "You don't mean for a lot of things to happen but they do. You led that serial killer to my husband and now you've led someone who captures people with abilities to my son and you still won't tell me everything I need to know. I know that Jackson is special but I can't figure out why. I know that there's something wrong with you and your family-"

"There's nothing wrong with me or with Kon."

"Where'd Kon come from?"

"Not the stork," Clark replied brusquely. "I can't tell you everything. When Jax is old enough but he's not now. I can't protect you. I have my own family," he said, trying to shush Kon. "And they're in danger too. But I have friends who can help keep you safe, who can give you the attention I can't. Please, just take the deal."

"If I agree to see Mr. Queen, would you finally tell me what you really are, Clark?"

"I'm Clark Kent," he replied, in no mood to argue semantics over the Kal-El part and infinitely glad Kara wasn't there. "I'm a guy who's desperately trying to clean up the mess that your husband left behind."

She shook her head. "God, you're what? Twenty years old?"

"I'll be 22 in May," he replied.

"I'm twice that, Clark. You're this scared kid and you have no idea what you're doing at all, do you?"

"No," he said honestly. "I don't. I'm trying to keep everyone safe and this is the only way I know how to do it. I…whatever you think you know, you can't possibly know all of it, and whatever you think you've guessed, forget it. My father died protecting me and the secret I share with your son. My best friend was tortured for it twice and almost died. It's not that I don't trust you. It's that you can't be beaten into revealing something you don't know. I'm older now, stronger. My mom knows and I can keep her safe. Ollie and Lionel can keep her safe. Jax, as gifted as he is, is eight years old and he can't protect you from Lex, even if you were insane enough to take the meteor rock off of him. Please, listen to me."

"No," she replied, standing up and shaking her head. "I can't do that. You won't level with me and every time you show up, my life gets worse. You track my husband down and he dies. You try and find out more about his records and now my son's a target. Why the Hell would I trust anything you told me?"

"Because I only want to help. Jax is just like Kon, you said so yourself. He's family. I…we're not blood family, but he's part of my people and I have to keep him safe just like I'm trying to do with Kara and Kon. Oliver is the only way I know how to do that."

"What if I have another way?" Mary asked coldly.

"Excuse me?"

"Lex is interested in your son and in you and your cousin more, isn't he?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you think he knows what he has?"

"What?"

"The meteor rocks. He paid an unbelievable price for them. The scientist he sent was euphoric when he found out I had a color they'd never seen before. The meteor rocks do something. They have to. It's why I had to wear one and Jackson and Dexter always do…did." She said, pausing at the mention of her husband. "What does the gold one do?"

Clark flinched and held Kon tighter. "It's just a rock."

"No, it's not. What does the gold color do? The blue…it must do something to make you more normal or Jackson wouldn't have to wear it. I've heard the reports from the EPA assuring everyone that the green doesn't make people sick or cause cancer, but what about the gold one. Just mentioning it makes you sweat."

Clark wanted to kick himself. He truly was the worst poker player in history and he couldn't lie to save his soul. Perry was right about that. He only sweated when he was near green K, worked up with Chloe, or nervous. "It doesn't do anything."

"No, it does something terrible, doesn't it? But Lex doesn't know that."

"I promise you that it can't hurt Kon or Jax. I don't know if any of the colors could really do anything to either of them."

"Besides the blue."

"I can't say more than I have."

Mary shook her head. "The gold does something to you, doesn't it? Dexter would never touch that sample. All the others, even green, I saw him touch once or twice, but he had lead shielding or tongs and thick gloves and everything for the gold. Whatever it does, it's supremely dangerous and it would affect you and your cousin, wouldn't it?"

Clark stood up and crowded over her. "They're rocks. Lex bought rocks off of you and they wouldn't hurt Jax but that doesn't mean that Lex, himself, wouldn't try and do terrible things to your son. Please, let me help you."

"I lost my husband because of you and now my son has all these ideas in his head from your cousin. I don't need your help and if Lex pushes…I know how to bargain. Clark, don't come here again. Lex only thinks that I sold him everything I had."

"What?"

"If you come here again, I'll find out myself what the gold or the green can do to you. Now leave Santa Fe and never come back or I swear to God, I'll go to Lex myself with everything I suspect."

"But you can't-"

She shook her head and glanced at Kon who had finally quieted. "It's about survival, isn't it? You know exactly how I feel, don't you? How close I am to Jackson, how much I love him. Hell, how much it took just to get him into this world."  
>Clark shook his head, "I don't understand."<p>

"Of course you don't," she sneered. "It's a very simple equation. Lex has a choice between my son or yours and I'd sell yours out to him in a heartbeat and I'd throw in the father at no extra cost. I don't want to, but I don't like being backed into a corner either. Leave my family alone and I'll leave yours alone, do you understand?"

"But Lex-"

"Is your problem, Clark." She replied, taking Jax's hand and pulling him out of the sandbox.

"Mom! I wasn't done. Hey," Jax started, completely oblivious to her anger. "Can Mr. Clark and Kon and the blonde lady come over for dinner? He gets everything and he can do all the math stuff like me and maybe he can help me with my homework."

"No, Jackson."

"But mom!"

"I said no," she replied, pulling something out of her purse and Clark's eagle eyes could discern the number for the League's private line in her grasp. "We're done," she said, shredding the card in two. "Do not come near my son…don't come near this state ever again."

"But mom!" Jax shouted as she dragged him across the playground. Clark could hear his heart speeding up in his frustration and he forced himself to focus one more time on Jax's unique rhythm. When that time came, when Jax finally figured out how alone he was, his call and his heartbeat would be the only clues that he'd need Clark at all.


	46. Chapter 47

47

"Kara, how could you?" Clark demanded, glaring at his cousin.

"How could I what now?"

The four of them-him and Chloe, Kara and Jimmy-were at the The Talon apartment. Lois and his mom had taken Kon out to the Baby Gap in Granville. Apparently Lois was looking to spoil Kon with the leftovers from her Christmas bonus. He hoped his mom would temper her. He didn't want Lois to waste her money on anything. Kon had so many clothes already, but he did grow fast and he was going to be tall. Clark could tell that already.

"Kara, you were harassing Jax."

"I was not. I came by to visit him twice a week at the playground and to teach him the important stuff. I didn't tell him about Krypton, exactly. It's not like he knows where Dax-Ur was from. I just thought he'd like to know more about our language. What's so wrong with that?"

Clark continued pacing. "The thing that's wrong with it is that it's made Mary Donovan furious. She's mad at us and she thinks we're out to undermine her with Jax. I mean, how is it supposed to sound when some strange blonde woman is hanging around her son and teaching him a foreign language. She's not stupid. I think she's pieced all of it together or enough of it to make her very dangerous to us. If she wanted to, she could go to Lex."

"Bitch."

"Kara," he replied, turning to her. "It doesn't matter how she acts. The point is we made her mad at us. We made her feel threatened and now she's in a bad position. Lex is onto Jax and if she gets the choice between selling the three of us out for Jax's sake or keeping quiet, she'll choose Jax."

"And like I said, 'bitch.'"

Clark shook his head. "I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't trade the lives of anyone in this room or Lois or mom or Kon's for Jax's. I'm trying to find a way to keep our family and, you know-"

"The last fourth of the New Council," Chloe supplied.

He shrugged, thinking of how stupid it was to include a two month old and a third grader in that, but, then again, they were all that was left. "Exactly. We all matter, but Mary doesn't see it that way. If we keep pressing her or go near Jax again, she'll go to Lex herself."

"We can be careful," Kara defended.

"Kara," Jimmy said, placing a hand on her forearm. "Jax isn't yours. His dad had his reasons for not telling him about Krypton and that matters. It's like how you and CK have to be really careful about what you tell Kon when he gets old enough."

"I'm not ashamed."

"And we're not saying that," Chloe replied. "There are things an eight year old is just too young for and Kryptonian is one of them. It was the right instinct but it was the wrong thing to do. Jax isn't actually ours. He's half a country away and he already has a mom and I don't...she just deals with this differently."

"By selling the rest of us out?"

"I didn't say that," Clark defended. "Not exactly. She's scared, Kara."

"Because most humans, no offense, are stupid. Not Lois or Jimmy or Kara or Aunt Martha, but most of them can't handle us. She's freaking because she thinks she knows who Jax really is."

"She's freaking out," Jimmy corrected, "Because her husband was murdered and now she knows the richest man in the country is spying on her. Of course, she'd be upset. Her life's as screwed up as ours have been since CK got knocked up."

"Hey!" Clark objected.

"That's kind of how it happened," Kara admitted.

"You know, one sentence. That was all you needed, Kara. One little 'men can get pregnant back home,'" he groused, mainly for effect than anything else. He wouldn't trade Kon for anything. Still it had been one hell of a surprise.

"Doesn't matter now. What matters now is that we have a truce and it's as flimsy as Kleenex. We leave Mary and Jax alone and she doesn't turn the three of you over to Lex," Chloe reminded.

"So what do we do now?" Jimmy asked. "Are we going to just leave Jax alone for real? He'd get snatched in a second if Lex felt like it."

"No, we're not doing that. I called Ollie. The League's stretched thin as it is. Not as much as it used to be since I'm back at one hundred per cent, but Dinah's distracted right now," Clark said.

"With a psychotic squirrel," Kara grumbled.

"Be that as it may, the League's busy and they're trying to get intel on Asian holdings of 33.1. Ollie couldn't even spare Bart and I'm sure he was looking for an excuse to get a breather," Chloe continued, completely Watchtower in her efficiency. "He's putting a few of Queen security on it. I don't know who or what they look like, but he's doing that much. Jax should be safe. Besides, I tailed the reporter. Lex is getting impatient with Jax since Dax-Ur was at least able to cover his tracks well. There are no incidents in his file, no odd medical things so far. Lex wants the focus shifted."

Clark gulped, "Back to us?"

"Looks like," Chloe finished. "It's a trade-off, if he's focusing on you three, we can do something about that. If it's back to Jax…he's just not as safe, even with Ollie's security on it. He and Mary have no idea, even now, what could be coming for them."

"Exactly," Jimmy replied, squeezing Kara's hands. "If I were going to be worried about someone, I'd be worried about Connor. I think you have to start considering the chance that Lex isn't just suspicious but that he actually knows ."

Clark swallowed and forced back his nausea. "I know that and, after what happened in the back alley, I'm really scared that he's put everything together, but he hasn't done anything yet. He still might not know."

"And he has every color of Kryptonite you can imagine, little cousin. I don't even know what gold does."

He exchanged a brief, guilty glance with Chloe. "It doesn't matter. He's always had tons of green K and that's never changed. If he wanted us, he could have had us a long time ago."

"I don't think assuming he's at Clark Kent square one is helping," Chloe objected.

"I didn't say that," Clark replied, leaning against the fire place and stroking a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do. We're tightening up all of Kara's back story. We're fixing the documents that were obviously faked. Kon's never left alone. I mean, and no offense Jimmy-"

"None taken, E.T." Jimmy quipped.

"But even if Lois is human, she's an advanced degree blackbelt. If she's not with him, I am or Kara is. He'd have to go through one of the three of us first and, not to brag, but a pissed off Kryptonian is a lot to reckon with."

"Not if there's meteor rock," Chloe replied. "I...we're trying. The League's been trying for years to get Lex prosecuted for what happened in 33.1. It's hard and we haven't made that much progress."

"What do you suggest?" He barked back. "Are we supposed to run? Ask Ollie to arrange something nice and low key in Sri Lanka or something?"

"Of course not, but relocating to the Watchtower is not the worst idea ever," Chloe replied.

"I don't want to do that," Kara countered. "I have a life in Smallville and with James. If we ran, then Lex knows we're guilty. That's like a huge neon sign like with that Orange Juice guy."

"O.J." Chloe corrected. "Journalism's lowest moment. However, maybe it's not such a bad idea to take a vacation. You could do that."

"And I've just taken back over the farm and he doesn't have anything solid yet or Perry wouldn't have warned us. We'd already be in Scion or something. The solution is for the League to work faster. Kara and I are still part-timers and we have to be that to keep the farm running and because I can't just pick up and go to Japan because of Kon. But our best hope is to get Lex in jail before he puts the pieces together."

"Clark-"

"He's been trying for nine years, almost, to figure out what I am. I've done a good job so far. I can hide it longer."

"You have so much more to hide now," Jimmy pointed out. "I mean, in the beginning it was just you and your parents. Now there's not just you who's part of the secret. There are three other Kryptonians involved in this and think of how many people know-the League, Chloe, Lana and her doctors-there are a lot of loose ends."

"And we've handled them, James," Kara corrected. "The League can't be compromised. Lana's on an all-expenses paid exile and we'd never tell anyone anything. We're handling it."

"I don't think-"

"We've got it," Clark insisted, defending his cousin. "We get to Lex first. We get him thrown in jail and then we don't have to worry."

Chloe and Jimmy shared a worried glance with each other. "I know you two have this whole invulnerable mentality, Clark, but maybe this time it's not that simple."

"I'm not just picking up and going into Ollie's care or something. I have a life here, Chlo, and it's a good one. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to bring Kon into something like that. We start running and we'd never stop."

"Exactly," Kara said, hopping up and coming to stand next to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "We stay."

"We're not getting an equal vote in this, are we?" Jimmy asked.

"Huh?"

"Whatever you want to call the four of us, we're it. We're all that's left of Krypton. I mean, Chloe and I aren't actually from there, but she's Kon's mom so she's in and one day you know what I hope will happen, Kara," Jimmy said, his face growing as red as his freckles.

"I know," his cousin replied.

"We're in this with you, but you're making the rules as you go along and not asking us if it's okay."

"It's not like that," he defended.

"Jimmy and I think that a few months somewhere Ollie could stash you might be best," Chloe answered.

"And the farm's home for both of us, Chlo, and it's Kon's home now too."

"So that's it? 2 to 2 but you guys win because you're 'The House of El?'" Jimmy asked bitterly.

"Yes," Kara replied honestly. "That's how it works."

"It's a mistake," Jimmy said, grabbing his coat.

"James?"

"I can't right now. I have archive stuff I was putting off anyway. I'll call you in a few days, Kara." He said, slamming the door behind him.

"What's his problem?" Kara demanded.

"I have a pretty good idea. I have a deadline for The Ledger anyway. Tell Lo I'm sorry I couldn't meet her for lunch at the Granville food court. I'll see you guys tonight for dinner, though," Chloe said, giving him a perfunctory kiss on the cheek before she, too, was gone.

"Kara?"

"Uh-huh?"

"What just happened here?"

Three Months

Things settled but uneasily. He and Chloe weren't fighting. It wasn't anything like the months of unease and self-loathing that living with Lana had been like. They still slept together and once, in a great while, Kon slept long enough for it to be a euphemism too. They hung out and took care of their son and laughed and all the things his parents always had. It was just that there was something unspoken between them, something uncomfortable.

Jimmy and Kara were worse, and he couldn't quite figure out why. It wasn't even their son whom they'd been arguing about. It just seemed to him that, while Jimmy, too, came over for family dinners and still played uncle for Kon and, thankfully, guy friend for Clark that Kara spent a lot less time, ahem, playing checkers in Metropolis.

It completely stumped him. Enough that he did the one thing that guys never did: he had a conversation with his bud.

"So, Jimmy, have you ever watched ice hockey before?"

Jimmy took the beer Clark offered him and shrugged. "I'm a sharks and wolverines fan. I'm not so much for the Sting Rays, you know?"

"Oh, I understand that," he answered, sitting down on the other end of the sofa and sipping on his Coke. "We could do more Simpsons?"

"Nah, sports are good. People slamming into walls is fun to watch."

Clark smiled at that. "It's pretty cool if you toss someone thirty feet and I probably shouldn't be that excited by it."

"Remind me not to piss you off, CK," Jimmy replied. "Oh cr...ud. I owe to the swear jar, don't I?"

He nodded and looked over at the portable bassinet that had been set up beside the sofa. Kon was sound asleep under the multi-colored blanket his grandmother had knitted for him. "Nah, I'll let it slide since he's too conked out to care. Just watch it."

"How's eliminating the a-word and all the k-stuff going?"

"K-stuff?"

"K-R-Y-P-T-O-N," Jimmy clarified. "You guys seem to mention that one enough. Nail?"

Clark rolled his eyes and took the offered container. His taste buds would probably never be quite right again, but he liked nails. Besides, maybe Kon still needed the extra iron. Taking a handful and shoving it in his mouth, Clark looked back at Jimmy. "We're working on it." Jimmy laughed and shook his head. "What?"

"You know how much Chloe complains?"

"What?"

"No, not about the K-R...forget it, you know what word. I meant, three months and bam! You look like you did in all the yearbook stuff from when you played football. You're completely back to normal, except for the uh..."

"Nursing part?"

"Only nine months to go!" Jimmy insisted enthusiastically.

"That's one way to put it," Clark replied. "I'm glad to be back to mostly normal for me. I didn't like being sick all that much."

"Humans don't love it either," Jimmy confided.

"Jimmy, I had alternative motives for inviting you over," Clark confessed.

"Really, what would that have been?"

"Well, I was worried. You and Kara seem to be fighting a little."

Jimmy frowned and clicked off the set. "You want the low down now?"

"I just don't understand what's wrong. Chloe seems pissed too. She's not being mean or anything. She just acts frustrated sometimes and I can't figure it out."

"You and Kara are so dense sometimes. Is that genetic too?"

"I hope not," he replied. "How are we dense?"

"CK, I love your cousin."

"I might have noticed that," he deadpanned. "I overheard everything the night that J'onn brought back everything from China. "I saw how you were with her and I know it's real, like me and Chloe."

"It is."

"And the reason you've spent more time with Kon and me than her in the last month?"

"He's very cute."

"Well obviously," Clark replied, picking up his shoulders. "He's mine."

Jimmy shook his head. "No, it's not that, CK. It's just that have you thought about where Chloe and I fit into all of this. Chloe's different."

"If you say a word about her being-"

"Infected?" Jimmy continued, his heart speeding up. "No, it's not like that, exactly. But she is different. She's as powerful in her own way as you are. She's a full-time member in the League. I'm just an average guy in all of this. I can't do anything but take a picture. I mean, even Lois can kick some ass. I can't, and, even considering what Chloe can do, she's still human."

"Okay, I'm following you."

"But Kon's hers. You promised her that, and whatever happens between me and Kara and it would be way off in the future because I haven't even graduated college yet."

"My heart and its continued not stopping thank you," Clark replied.

"Yeah, but that kid, he'd be mine. I'd be responsible for him. It's not fair for the two of you to pull rank because you're Els. That sucks."

"We didn't. We just don't want to move."

"And we can't make you. This whole thing is super-immature. We're worried and you should sometimes listen. You have a huge problem with that."

"Do you want arms?"

Jimmy snorted. "I've caught you nursing. You can't intimidate me anymore and Kara would kill you if I didn't have fingers. She loves mine."

"Oh god."

"Uh-huh. The point is that you never listen. All of us begged you with the Lana thing and we almost didn't get you back. Don't you think that Chloe's right on this thing? She wouldn't be part of the command center for the League if Ollie didn't respect her so much."

"And how's hiding out in Maui or Swtizerland or wherever different from ending up in a lab?"

"Maui's nice. Can Ollie do that?"

"He's a little like a fairy godfather," Clark conceded. "The point is that we can't leave our home. It's not about trusting you or not trusting you. It's about how Kara and I feel. It's comfortable here. It's what we have. She already lost one home. I'm not going to make her lose another."

Jimmy sighed. "Can I keep worrying?"

"Sure, but are you going to make up with her?"

"I think so. Just...and I know this is weird since when we started out you didn't even like me."

Clark shifted uncomfortably. At the time, he'd been a jealous jerk and then he'd been trying to figure out ways to keep Kara's non-existent virtue intact. "I know and I'm sorry. You've been really great for Kara and Kon adores you."

"Uh, thanks. That's a lot of honesty for guys, you know."

"Tell me about it. We can blame the stupid hormones. They're an awesome scapegoat."

"Good to know. The point is that the four of us, even more than your mom, we're family. I'm not going to leave Kara. I'd never do that, but I just want to be equal. I know I'm just a guy, but I'm the guy that's crazy about her and I think that's worth something."

Clark nodded and ate another handful of nails. "I think that's worth something too."

"Huh?" Chloe said, arching an eyebrow at him as she set her laptop case down on the kitchen table.

"Huh what?" He echoed, ladling the fettuccini onto her plate.

"You went all out." She smiled down at where Kon was playing with a few spare strands in his high chair. "Is that a new outfit?"

"I couldn't get a sitter since Kara is out with Jimmy tonight, but I wanted him to look nice."

"And that's why you look like you're about to go to high school graduation all over again?"

He frowned as he set both plates on the table. "Sometimes I wear ties."

"About once a year," she joked, sitting down and waiting for him to join her. "Seriously what is all this and since when were Jimmy and Kara on spending-the-night terms?"

Clark sighed and sat down across from her, but not before he handed Kon his little green alien that Lois had given him. It was something he seemed to enjoy. Kon gurgled and promptly shoved the little alien into his mouth. "Okay, or you could drool on it, buddy."

Chloe smirked. "Is that considered cannibalism?"

"I doubt it," Clark replied. "Look, I think that I've been a jerk lately."

"I'm listening," Chloe said, biting into her dinner.

"Look, when we talked about Jax, it kind of occurs to me that we didn't really talk at all."

"Really and how did you come to this realization?"

"Jimmy came over today and I talked with him. I was really worried about him and Kara, since they'd been fighting and I'd been worried about us."  
>Chloe gaped at him. "Like worried as in 'Chlo's going to leave me?'"<p>

"Maybe."

"I'd never do that. Not you or Kon ever," she said, accenting her point by kissing Kon's cheek. "I love you guys."

After how long it had taken her to admit to that, hearing it still made Clark feel warm and happy all over. "I know, but just because you love someone doesn't mean that things work out."

"This isn't a Lana thing is it?"

"No, not at all. It's just that Kara and I haven't treated you and Jimmy very fairly. He told me that it felt like Kara and I pulled rank, and he's pretty much right. We were thinking about what we wanted and it didn't matter about your votes and that's wrong. My mom and dad always found a way to compromise. I mean, the thing that didn't work between me and Lana-"

"Besides her being a complete psychopath."

Clark nodded and eyed Kon sadly. It sometimes worried him what kinds of things Kon had inherited from his biological mother and, if he were honest with himself, it had worried him long before Lana had ever tried to subdue the both of them with Blue Kryptonite. "Before that. She didn't listen to a thing I said." He sighed, and reached out to stroke her hand. "I don't want to be like that. I want you to know that what you have to say matters to me. We're partners."

"Always have been," she replied, setting down her fork. "Clark, there's not much to say. You and Kara decided to stay and you did and everything stayed status quo. That doesn't mean that Lex couldn't do something tomorrow, but we're working hard on finding something. Ollie thinks there's a lot of promise in that raid he's got planned in Cairo."

"Does he need me for that?"

"Do you have a sitter?"

He nodded, "Mom says her apartment in D.C. feels too empty and I suggested a grandson could perk it up."

Chloe laughed and kissed Kon again. "Hear that, a stor ? You've been downgraded to decorating flare."

"Well, he is very cute," Clark admitted. "Who doesn't want a cubby little, ahem, K-word to brighten up their living room?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Not that I do all that 'it's not normal' moping you excel at, but other couples find sitters for dates."

"And dates are supposed to be fun. Destroying Lex's property is fun," he corrected.

"And how. Clark, I think it's still dangerous and I'm still trading info with Perry on the sly, but you might have been right. Kon's really happy here and if we had to move all the time. That isn't stable at all for a little kid." She sighed, "I just don't know. I get sick of waiting for something bad to happen."

"I know the feeling," he replied. "Chlo, Kara and I? We're sorry about what happened."

"I know you are."

"You're equal with me, you know that right? Even Steven." Kon chuckled at that and it made his alien fall onto the tray. Clark frowned. "I don't get what's so funny."

"You're the biggest dork on the planet and our son figured that out, farmboy," Chloe replied. "Thanks, Clark. It means a lot to me."

"How much?" He asked, letting his voice become more of a low rumble.

" A lot ," she purred, leaning over Kon to kiss him. "I think that after you put someone down for his nap, we have a checkers match of our own to get to."

His eyes itched at that. "I wish you could eat in superspeed and we could-" He was interrupted by Kon spitting up on himself. It was green and all over his front. Clark glared at his son. "You're in a conspiracy against me getting…to play games."

Kon, who looked a little punky, just wibbled his bottom lip.

"Oh, come here, buddy, I didn't mean it," he replied, scooping his son up and heading to the nursery. "Shh."

"Is he sick?"

"No, I think he just ate too much."

Chloe nodded and sighed. "That's definitely a you thing."

Clark glared at her mostly empty plate. "And which one of us inhaled her pasta?"

She stood up and rolled her eyes. "Give me my son. I'll put Kon up. You just implied I was fat."

"Did not and you guys always made fun of me!" He added, following her up the stairs.

"You were festively plump and kangaroo-like. It was a little funny," she admitted. Then, she quickly added, "But you were still hot."

"Yeah, right. Don't placate me." Kon set his head down on Chloe's shoulder and gurgled a little, and Clark stopped complaining. Reaching out one large hand, he stroked Kon's hair. "I'm sorry, buddy, really. You shouldn't drink so much so fast."

"He'll be okay," Chloe said, reaching the nursery and sitting down in the rocker. "He just needs some attention."

He nodded and sat down next to them. "So this is date night?"

"Yup, pretty much."

Kon shifted a little and looked up at him with huge and irresistible green eyes. Clark smiled and kissed his wife and son in quick succession. "Good then. I wouldn't have it any other way."


	47. Chapter 48

48

3 Months, One Week

"Kara's annoyingly happy," Chloe replied, watching as the other girl literally floated her way through making her toast.

"She and Jimmy made up and they've had grand champion checkers all week," Clark replied, trying to spoon feed Kon some carrots. Peaches, apples, and asparagus had all been huge flops. He had high hopes for carrots, until they ended up all over his shirt.

"Clark?"

"What?" he asked, blotting his shirt with a napkin.

"It's not going to happen."

"Not with that attitude it's not."

Chloe smirked, "Just strip and feed him."

"I'm not sure if you want this to happen," he started, pulling off his t-shirt, "Because you like seeing me half-naked or because you want Kon fed."

"Little of column A and a little of column B."

"Plus," Kara chirped as he brought Kon to his chest. "It's a total tourist attraction. I get a punch out of it every time."

"The expression is 'kick' and I am going to make so much fun of you when you get pregnant."

"That's the spirit, Kal," Kara replied, bending over in between bites of toast to stroke Kon's hair. "I'm sure he's not thrilled to be doing this either."

"Uh-huh. I think he thinks it's funny too."

"You know," Chloe added philosophically. "To Kon it wouldn't be funny. It would be perfectly normal."

"Normal is such a qualified term in this family," Clark replied, relaxing a little as whatever the hormones were flooded his system. Despite the massive embarrassment factor, he liked nursing. It made him feel so close to his son, although he didn't want to do it after teething started. There was something about Kryptonian teeth, wonkily developing superstrength and his flesh that made him nervous.

"Yeah, I know," Chloe replied and then she frowned when her cell phone started blaring. "It's six AM. Who calls now?"

"Answer it," Kara replied before speeding out to The Talon. She was running late too, despite the superspeed. Some things were so genetic.

Chloe shrugged and hit accept on her phone. "Hey. Lo, it's early. Okay, no not for milking. Why would I read that piece of cr...ud. No, I'm sorry. You did write some good pieces for The Inquisitor. It what? No, Clark's, um, busy right now. Yeah that does mean imitating a cow."

"Hey!"

"Shh, I'm talking. Kara just got to work. Give her a copy and she'll be over her in no time. Alright. Bye Lo, love you too." Chloe said, shutting her phone. "We're in trouble."

"How?" Clark asked as his cousin sped back into the room, her speed kicking up a wind that ruffled his wife's hair.

"Kal, it's terrible!" Kara exclaimed, throwing the paper onto the table. "They say you're cheating on the squirrel!"

"What?" He asked, waiting as Chloe unfolded the paper and showed him the headline. Senator Kent's Son in Cheating Scandal! Below it was a picture of him and Chloe coming back from a movie night at The Talon. He'd been helping her into the truck and she'd given him a quick peck on the lips. He hadn't even thought anything about it. It had seemed so natural and it was late Saturday night in Smallville. Who was going to catch it?

The Inquisitor, apparently.

"That's bad."

"It's really bad," Chloe corrected. "It's going to kill your mom's approval ratings for one thing. Everyone still thinks Lana's sick. I...you know what? Let me go to Metropolis to talk to Lois. She and Jimmy might be able to work out a counter story. Just something else to deal with this. You call J'onn and he might be able to come up with something better. He shapeshifts."

"Chlo?"

"It's going to be fine," she reassured him in her most forced tone as he handed Kon off to Kara and slipped on his shirt.

"Chloe, why are you so upset?"

"I'm not," she lied, opening up the front door. "I'm just...whoa!" Only his senses made it possible for him to track what had happened as Chloe slammed the door shut. She could move when she wanted to.

"Was that CNN out there?"

"Uh-huh."

"Don't they cover news? I mean, there's a way going on and a recession and important stuff."

"Love triangle of politician's son. Infidelity with sick mother of child? Come on, Kal. That stuff's gold and I'm the one not from here," Kara replied. "It's great, like watching a soap!"

"It's not great. There's a whole news corp on the lawn!"

Kara rocked Kon a little. "And we can totally duck out. Chlo, I canceled my shift. I'll take you to The Talon to see Lois and Kal, you and the little guy, can go to see J'onn. Alright? We fix everything. A PR problem shouldn't be so hard. Right Chloe?"

Chloe nodded and still seemed a little dazed. "Of course. Give me a ride, Supergirl?"

"Naturally," she replied and before Clark could object, they were gone.

Clark shook his head and grabbed up Kon's travel bag. "Buddy, I think I made mommy mad."

Kon considered him and, Clark swore and would swear to this day that it was true, nodded.

"You're very smart, aren't you? Don't you just take after daddy?" Clark prodded before speeding off to see J'onn.

"Kal-El, you have been remiss in your actions lately." J'onn chided.

Clark sighed and shook his head at Bart's offer to take care of Kon. He liked the speedster a lot, but his son would have better luck with a rabid badger. "No thanks."

"Suit yourself amigo. Does he eat Twinkies yet?"

J'onn smiled slightly. "No, but he does continue to gain sustenance from Kal-El."

"Oh, alien milk. Sucks to be you, little dude."

"That's a word jar word," Clark reminded. "Have Ollie cut me a check or something."

"Can do," Bart replied, before speeding off.

"Kal-El," J'onn started again. "You knew that you had to be careful, didn't you?"

"I can't be on guard the entire time. It's been five months since I've even seen Lana and I was out with my wife. It's not like I just shoved her against a brick wall or something. I kissed her after a date."

"And to the public, it appears that you have run around on the mother of your child."

"When she's the one who was doing things I can't repeat in front of Kon with Lex."

"Precisely, but they do not know that. Now you have a mess on your hands, do you not?"

"I know I do," he corrected. "I just...can you help me with this or not?"

He nodded. "Of course, and it should be enough to convince the press to leave in a week or two but you and Kara will have to be circumspect until then and you will have to stop using your powers. The press will be looking for another story on top of this one, and your origins would be an impressive headline grabber."

"I know that."

"Very well. I can play the part that you need. Shall we do it at The Talon or would you prefer an even larger scene. Oliver should have no problem getting us a table at Le Petit Fleur in Metropolis."

"The bigger, the better," he griped.

"You do realize that after I stage this, it would be best if Chloe moved back into The Talon with Lois. It might take several months before you can still be in public with each other."

"What?" He said, tightening his grip a little on Kon. "She's his mom."

"The rest of the country does not know or understand that distinction. The way the scenario played out, Lana cheated on her pregnant mate, but it appears that you have been the philanderer. If you and Chloe were to go so blatantly public, no matter what scene we perpetrate...it will look bad for your mother."

"I know."

"You should have thought of doing this earlier, Kal-El."

"Between almost dying and Lex and Kara and Jimmy's problems and, you know, the three AM feedings, I wasn't thinking about the outside world. I hardly see it between farm duties and Kon anyway."

"I understand, but you set yourself up to be in huge trouble by not severing public ties with Lana as soon as you could."

"I know!" he shouted and that noise startled Kon, making his normally happy son cry. "Shh, buddy, Uncle J'onn was being mean. I know he was."

"Kal-El, I was being truthful. I expect to carry out the necessary tomorrow. Also, it is time to change Lana's accommodations. Dinah deserves more than being Lana's bodyguard. It might be best to move her a second time to a place, such as Gotham, where Lex has no holdings. A few of Oliver's best trained regular guards would suffice. I could even pull strings with the Gotham police force. Many of them moonlight anyway to make ends meet."

"Do you think that getting the League out of it is a good idea?"

"The League is bigger than your indiscretions, Kal-El. We need the Black Canary working with us on 33.1 and Oliver's security has proven more than adequate in keeping Jax-Ur safe. It is for the best. We shall 'break' you and Lana up and refocus the League's attention."

"Alright," he agreed, still cradling his son. "I guess that'll work."

"It should, but you need to explain to your wife how things are going to be."

"The she moves out of my bed and we pretend to be friends for a few months?"

"It is for the best."

"It's going to crush her and I don't want to live like that. Not now that I have her."

"The press will not be kind."

"My mom's career could recover from that. She hasn't done anything wrong."

"Voters would not see such a distinction. This is Kansas, not California, Kal-El, but it is your decision, as it always is."

Clark nodded. "And that's what I was afraid you'd say."

"Chlo?" He asked, as he slipped into his side of the bed. "How was your day?"

"Fun. It was really fun. I got called a 'whore' by The Inquisitor. There wasn't anything Lois and Jimmy could do for us with The Planet and I had about a hundred flashbulbs go off in my face as I tried getting into my home. I've never said 'no comment' so many times in my life."

He hunched his shoulders at that. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

She sighed and leaned back on her pillow but not anywhere near him. "It's not your fault, exactly. You've never been all that smooth with the press. I just forgot for a little while."

"Forgot what?"

She turned onto her side to face him. "What it actually reads on Kon's birth certificate. I'm not debating it with you. I know you love me and I love you and Kon more than my life."

"Can you not prove it as much next time?" He joked weakly.

"Of course, but that's our family. The rest of the world thinks that Lana's the mother and she's the one who, um-"

"Knocked me up?" He suggested wryly.

She nodded. "Yeah, but Kon's hers in a different way and there's not a day that goes by that I don't remember that. I can see it in how straight his hair is. Yours and Kara's always curls, you know. I can see it in his nose and in how even more dark his complexion is than yours. I'm too pale Irish for that."

Clark didn't say anything at first. He'd considered Kon's Chloe's and only Chloe's since they'd kicked Lana out of Ollie's penthouse, but it didn't mean that he, too, forgot where part of Kon had come from. He could smell it on him. The first few weeks it had driven him nuts almost, catching hints of a scent that was a mix of his and Lana's. It would leave him expecting to see her around every corner of his house. It wasn't that he wanted Kon's to be hers; it was more that Lana's contribution was an an inescapable fact.

"But he's yours now," he added. "Kon's already trying to steal coffee from Kara at The Talon. He's picked up mimicking your expressions, too. He just quirks his chin in a way that is pure Chloe Sullivan 'yeah right.'"

"But if you want Martha to still have a career, he can't be mine, right?"

Clark shook his head and pulled her close to him. "I talked to mom after I left J'onn. He'll help me call it quits with Lana in public, but he said you'd have to live with Lois for a few months, that it'd be too suspicious if you're still here."

She stilled in his arms but her voice was as analytical as always. "Of course. Your mom worked hard to get where she is and I don't want to jeopardize that for any of you."

"Mom said it was my decision," he conceded. "I don't know how to fix this part, but if I can deal with Lex and my own crazy biology and everything else, then I can do this, okay?"

"I can start packing."

"I didn't insist on that."

"Well, it's the best idea."

He pulled her tighter and kissed her head. "There should be other ones. Chlo, I'm an idiot."

"How so?"

"I haven't thought about anything in the last few months but Kon."

"Well, you don't need that much sleep, but I think Kon's kept you very busy, especially with all the late night feedings," she conceded.

"But it didn't occur to me. Every time we're out at The Talon or when we went to Fordman's to grab something or even in Granville. Every time we did anything in public we couldn't even hold hands." He reached down and held out her wrist, tracing his fingers over her bracelet. "I see this and to me and to Kara, it means you're mine, but no one else sees a wedding band on your arm. I know it's there. I'm not ashamed of you or regretting anything. I didn't mean to hide everything for so long."

"And I'm the one who was pulling away every time you reached out for my hand and forgot in public or who turned her head politely most of the time. I know it's all sensitive. It's not even about your mom's career. There can't be a story here because no one can be allowed to know about Kon or you."

"Or Kara?"

"Her too." She smiled and kissed him before settling into his arms. "I'd do anything to protect him."

"I know and that's why you're his mom."

"Clark," "Lana" started and it was creepy how good J'onn was at imitating her condescending tone.

"What?"

"We need to talk."

He nodded and set down his fork and knife. "What about? This is the best you've felt since Kon was born and I thought we were celebrating by having dinner."

Lana narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "And the best you could do was put on the blazer you've had since high school and a Tasmanian Deviil tie."

"It said coat and tie," he corrected. "It didn't say what kind of tie."

"That's just the point," she replied, pushing her salad away. "You're so simple about everything. It's all about the Smallville mentality. I've grown past that. Before Connor was born, I was going to a different fundraiser every night for ISIS. Now it's like I've been trapped on the farm for months."

"What?" He asked, recoiling a little and trying to channel all those months of insults and hurt feelings she'd left him reeling with.

"I don't want to be Mrs. Kent, ordinary farm wife. I want to have something more. I should have something more."

He started raising his voice and some of the patrons glared at him. They wouldn't do anything to correct him, not when the reservation had been made under "Queen," but it should make for a better show. "What do you want?"

Lana eyed her fingernails with cool disinterest. "Lex and I have been sleeping together since before Connor was born."

The entire room went silent.

Clark still loathed hearing that confession from any "Lana." Recovering as best he could, he took in a deep breath. "You've what?"

"I'm still in love with Lex, Clark. I don't want to do this. I wanted to stay with you for Connor's sake, but I can't deal with it. The farm is oppressive and tiny and I'm better than that."

Clark swallowed and he felt the eyes of everyone who was anyone in Metropolis watching him. "Do you know how much I've given up for you?"

Kal-El J'onn warned. This is not part of the script we have agreed upon.

Trust me.

"What do you mean?"

"I loved you," he confessed, thinking of what he'd say to the real version if she were here. "I kept trying to make it work with you. Chloe's been so great. She came and helped take care of Kon when you were ill. She's been so nice with me, and I was...sometimes I thought about her like you've obviously done with Lex, but I didn't. I was faithful and this is how you repay me?"

"Clark-" She warned and it was eerily paternal and all J'onn.

"I'm glad you're running off with Lex because, you know what? I am a farmer." He could have substituted alien in there, maybe in his head he already had. "Chloe loves me for that so I hope you and Lex are very happy together."

"Clark," J'onn hissed.

He stood up and shook his head. "I'm done with this, Lana." It took everything he had to just walk to the elevator and back out into an alley. He wanted to speed home to his wife more than anything else.

He had to settle for a few extra minutes delay, but he was home as soon as he could be after that.

"You're stupid, did you know that?" Chloe replied, smacking him on the shoulder when he arrived home.

"I am not."

"J'onn called, normally not telepathically, and told me everything you said. How does that make it not look bad?"

"Well, it makes Lana look like a cheater, which she is, and it makes us look like the pair who were tempted but didn't do anything, which we were. You were the one who had all the boundaries up until Lana turned nuts with the Blue K."

"But Clark-"

He pulled her tightly to him. "This is best. I can't send you away for a few months for things to blow over and mom agreed. You're my wife and I'm not letting you go anywhere, deal?"

"Right," she sniffled.

"Completely right. Besides, Kon needs you here for him." As if on cue, Kon started crying and Clark groaned. "I liked this shirt."

She smirked. "Nothing gets that stuff out. It's worse than red wine."

"Tell me about it," he groused. "Are you going to help me take care of him or not, mom?"

"Of course," she said, hurrying with him up the stairs.


	48. Chapter 49

49

Four Months

Clark sighed and adjusted the papoose-like apparatus strapped across his chest. Kon was nestled tightly to him, but he was peering around, observing everything with his keen eyes open. "Hey buddy, we're visiting Chief Joseph today. You like him don't you?"

"Ma-la-ku-furn," Kon babbled. Kara had explained, disappointedly, that it wasn't Kryptonian, just plain babbling, but Kon had been doing that for almost a month now. Clark was going to chalk his almost incessant chatter to another trait he'd picked up from his mother. Of course, Clark was never going to say that part out loud since he loved Chloe and, more importantly, enjoyed sleeping next to her.

"Right, exactly that," Clark replied, pretending he had a clue what the baby talk was about.

Kon smiled and just the littlest hint of drool escaped down one fat cheek. Clark really hoped that wasn't something his son had inherited from him and he doubted Kara's truthfulness whenever she insisted that it was.

As he pulled the diaper bag out of the truck with one hand and slung his backpack over his shoulder, Clark noticed as a few of the village elders came up to him. He shook his head and looked up at the sky. "Oh please let them have it toned down a little."

"Numan!" The old woman in the Snoopy sweatshirt (it was now a nice Garfield t-shirt) exclaimed, rushing forward to kiss the top of Kon's head. "How wonderful it is to see you today."

"I come here three times a week and it's been almost a month," he reminded, patiently as he stepped onto Dr. Willowbrook's porch.

"Are you finally going to let some of us watch over the Nulec?"

Clark sighed and patted his son's back. "I appreciate it, really, but he's still very little and I don't like having him out of my sight. Besides, you all are really nice, great even, but he doesn't need to be treated like a future chief or anything."

"He's a great symbol of hope for our people."

"It's funny but we get that a lot," Clark replied, relaxing when the chief opened his door. "Dr. Willowbrook."

"Numan, come in," the chief said, frowning and easing his door shut behind Clark. "Sarah, I've told all of you about crowding Connor. He's too young yet to be with our people."

"But Joseph, perhaps today it would be different."

He shook his head. "When he's older. The elders have already discussed Numan's wishes for his son. He's no different to us than any Kawatchee child, no matter what we might otherwise wish."

She pursed her lips. "The Nulec is supposed to be honored, Joseph."

"Uh, I got the necklace and Chloe has one too. I think that was heaps of honor right there."

"Joseph-"

"Sarah, we'll discuss it later. Numan actually has a lesson he's supposed to be learning. Good day." And with that, he slammed the door. "How are you?"

"Better. The press stuff died down after that thing with the president throwing up on Queen Elizabeth, which was bad for her but good for me."

"So I've seen. It's been nice to see you and the young Mrs. El around town together as a family."

Clark blushed. "So far Chloe's keeping her maiden name. We haven't decided how that whole changing thing works since the ceremony was anything but legal."

"Have you considered having an actual one that is recognized by the state. Something that her family and coworkers could actually attend?"

Clark shrugged as he took off the carrier and set him into the small plastic swing set up in Joseph's study. "I have been thinking about it a lot, to be honest. I haven't figured out how to broach everything with her dad, frankly."

"You're old fashioned enough to ask for her hand like that?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm very traditional, except for the fact where I'm the one who carried Kon, everything's been traditional for me and Chloe, at least as far as my people were concerned."

"I see. Surely Mr. Sullivan has seen the headlines by now and is aware that Chloe is a full time Kent."

"Uh, yeah, and he's mostly confused since he was there for the first eight years or so where I kept insisting we were just friends. He's definitely thrown by the whole thing."

Joseph nodded and sat down in his armchair with one of his old leather bound journals. "I assume that he knows nothing about your origins or the unusual nature of Kon's parentage."

"Not so much. We had dinner with him last week and got him used to the idea that Chloe and I were a couple. He's happy if Chloe's happy. I just don't think he trusts me after all these years not to break Chlo's heart."

"You two have had a long and tangled relationship. Kara has been very forthcoming."

"Of course, she's Kara," he said, cracking open his notebook. "Mom says it's fine and Kara likes Gabe a lot. They have the same love of lame '70s sitcoms, so she thinks he's great. Kon seems to like him too."

"Has Chloe given the okay for the full disclosure?"

"Oh sure. I trust Gabe. I don't think he'd ever even think of doing anything. It's just been behind my list of things to do. I'm trying to make this smooth. The last time was last minute, 'Oh God, Oh God, I'm going to die!' I want this one to be a cool surprise for her. I was working on finding a ring. I'm trying to be super old fashioned for me and buy one."

"I see. Has Mr. Queen been offering suggestions?"

"That's the problem. All his suggestions belong on J-Lo's fingers. I'm still trying to find something a college student and farmer could afford."

Joseph chuckled. "It won't be very large."

"It doesn't have to be. I just want something I had to eat Ramen for, you know? I could make a baseball-sized diamond if I wanted, but that doesn't take any effort on my part. We'll figure out the ring stuff eventually. I think next time, I'm taking Lois. She knows Chloe's taste better than anyone."

"And Gabe?"

"Well, I was thinking of...I have no idea. Hey do you want to explain the intergalactic kangaroo part to him?"

Joseph laughed again. "I believe that's your honor. But I'd suggest having some alcohol available. It's a bit of a shock."

"Tell me about it," Clark replied. "So we were up to the Nulec, weren't we? We'd covered the variations on the basic Numan legend and, thanks to J'onn's research, we had some comparison stories from Egypt and China."

"It'll make a good paper, Clark. The draft you've already given me is excellent stuff."

"Uh, thanks," he replied awkwardly.

"You could have a future in academia, but I don't think that's what you're looking for."

He shook his head. "I like journalism. I mean, this is like journalism. We're still getting the story but there aren't any quotes. Everything's so far removed. I enjoyed interviewing people in high school. That's the best part."

Kon who had been busy staring at his fingers, clapped his hands and started babbling.

"Someone seems to agree."

"He's very social. I think somehow he's more Kara than anybody else in the family."

"That must make you nervous, Numan."

"Very. Speaking of my cousin, she hasn't been making people bow down to her or offer her money, right?"

"Your cousin has been well-behaved. My people want to treat you with the respect the legends have warranted. I am still trying to explain to them that you wish to be treated as-"

"Human?"

"Ordinary. Nulec is young yet. By the time he's old enough to notice the difference, I'll make sure he's treated as one of the tribe."

Clark smiled. "I like that."

"What?"

"That he's going to be one of the tribe. It's like we have an extended family or something."

"You do," Joseph replied, smiling and reaching over to tickle Kon's stomach. "Kon can be himself here, practice any and all of his gifts. None of you have to hide."

"I know and his uncles and Aunt Dinah already love him. I think some things are going to be easier for him," Clark replied, frowning down at his notes. "Some things won't, though."

"You have read the notes I've given you about how Nulec became the chief's successor anyway."

Clark swallowed. "I know it was a more violent time back then, but Nulec killed a lot of people with his abilities."

Joseph frowned back at Kon, who was now busy chewing on a teething ring. "I don't see Kon-El being a conqueror. No offense, Numan, but you're not imposing that way."

"I could be. Lana isn't a very good person. It makes me nervous sometimes."

"Well, Nulec was also raised to be a warrior just as the chief has wished. You don't have to do that with your son."

"I know," he replied, sighing. "So, we were just at the point where Nulec was trying to find a wife of his own, right?"

"I believe that's true."

"Cool."

Joseph smiled. "You've certainly found yours. I only wish that I could be there when you tell her father."

"You look nice," he said, adjusting the Dora the Explorer onesie on Kon. "Very colorful."

"Ih-bu-na-na-na," Kon babbled.

Clark rolled his eyes and dabbled at the thin rivulet of drool seeping down his chin. "You're not that great a conversationalist yet, Kon."

Kon grinned and clapped again.

"Grampy Gabe is coming over. You like him because he brings candy. Mommy freaks out because he brings candy." He shrugged and picked his son up from the changing table. "One day mommy won't worry so much and then you won't have to have a sun hat or mittens and can try eating nails like daddy. She just worries a lot since she can't take you to the doctor, you know?"

Kon looked at him, bright eyes shining.

"I know. She is silly sometimes, but it's nice she's so worried about us. Oh, I almost forgot," he said, slipping the sunglasses onto Kon's nose. "We'll take them off for Grandpa after we explain everything and he doesn't have a heart attack."

"Dad is not going to have a heart attack," Chloe replied, taking their son out of his arms. "Connor's the most perfect little grandson in the universe and he's named Connor Sullivan. Now that's a good Irish boy."

Clark shook his head. "And that's why I let you play 'Oh Danny Boy,' even though it sometimes feels like it's making my ears bleed."

"It is not. Daddy doesn't appreciate the classics," Chloe replied, settling Kon against her shoulder. "Clark? Are you nervous?"

"No, my mom's coming, right?"

"Yup."

"And Lois isn't?"

"She's family."

"But we didn't invite Kara either. I thought we could do this delicately. Something like 'I'm awesome watch me fly' or 'Smallville had a bun in the oven' was not the approach I was looking for."

Chloe giggled as they started down the stairs. "You do a good impression of both of them."

"I'm a good mimic," he admitted. "I do a great Lionel."

Chloe shivered. "That's...just no."

"Sorry," he answered as they entered into the dining room. Clark leaned over and undid the tray of his high chair so that Chloe could slide Kon right in. He squirmed a lot as she did it and it made him wonder how well a high chair would work when he finally came into his superstrength.

"Clark?"

"Huh?"

"You look like you got lost. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," he said, forcing a smile and kissing her head. "He's just fussy."

"He doesn't like being still."

"He is just like his mom," Clark quipped. "You can't sit still either."

"But when he hits 13 and starts barn moping, then we'll know exactly which one of us he got that from."

"Very funny, Chlo."

"I try," she replied, forcing her own Sullivan grin on her face when his mom opened the front door and she and Gabe both came in. "Daddy!"

" Caoimhneil ," he shouted, picking Chloe up and swinging her around. "How's my little girl."

"Twenty-two, daddy, and an established newspaper woman."

"And quite the housewife. Did you cook that?"

She rolled her eyes. "I got to toss the salad. Clark made the roast beef."

"I thought so. I was just trying to-"

"Gloss over the fact that I'm the worst cook ever?"

"Something like that," he said, reaching over and shaking Clark's hand. Eying him warily, he added, "Are you keeping my little girl happy."

Clark blushed, "Um..."

"It wasn't a euphemism, sweetheart," his mother added helpfully as she started placing all the dishes on the table.

"Oh right. No, we're great, sir."

He nodded. "I was a little worried when I read everything in The Inquisitor."

"Daddy, I keep telling you it's not a real paper."

"And where else can I find Big Foot stories?" He asked honestly, stepping into the dining room and smiling over at Kon. "Where else am I going to keep up on alien autopsies and Area 51?"

Clark bit back his urge, honed over four months, to demand five dollars for saying the a-word. "Heh, that's...I can see how you'd need that news."

Gabe mostly ignored him and started making funny faces at Kon. "How's the cutest little guy ever? Are you a Sullivan? Yes, you are." Gabe said, blowing a raspberry at Kon and Clark thought Chloe might have a heart attack right there from thinking about all the germs in human saliva. "Daddy!"

"I know, but I swear I'm clean, caoimhneil ." He took his seat next to Kon's highchair and frowned as Clark helped him mom and then Chloe with their chairs. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"It's eight o'clock at night."

"I had noticed."

"He still has his sunglasses on indoors. I know Mr. Queen was nice about getting them for you, but it's a little excessive right? He could grow up all blind or something."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Clark admitted as he finished pushing in his wife's chair. "Mr. Sullivan, there's a few things you really need to know about Chloe and me and about Kon."

Gabe's mouth fell open. "Chloe, you couldn't have been pregnant. I saw you back for Thanksgiving and you were flat as a board."

Chloe blushed. "No daddy! I'd never do that."

"Good because good Catholic girls..."

"...don't ever, ever do certain things before they get married," Chloe finished, eying Kon.

"Right, only easy girls get pregnant like that."

"Hey!" Clark shouted, although, to be fair, once he and Lana had started having sex, it had been really easy to talk him into doing it whenever and wherever she wanted.

Gabe swallowed and stammered. It reminded him just a little of Jimmy. "Not that I'm saying anything bad against Lana. What you two did was your business. I just don't want my little girl getting into trouble like that."

"Hey again! It's not like I knew I'd get pregnant!" Gabe dropped his spoon and his mashed potatoes everywhere; his mother shook her head; and Kon started giggling like he always did for the Teletubbies.

Chloe rolled her eyes and set her fork down. "Was that the kind of subtle touch you were going for, Clark?"

"Chloe, is Clark okay? I mean, don't be angry, Martha, but the stress of being a new father and the break-up hasn't been too much for him. He's thinking clearly, isn't he?"

His mom pursed her lips. "He's thinking clearly. He's just not very tactful. Clark, baby, I thought you were trying to ease him into it."

"What?" Gabe asked and now he was turning beet red.

"Uh, Mr. Sullivan," Clark started, fumbling worse than Gabe had a few minutes before. "Lana was never pregnant with Connor. I was."

Gabe shook his head. "I tell you what, teleporters and molemen farmers and evil plant ladies and weather girls. This is one messed up town. I'm kind of glad that I got relocated to Gotham."

"Daddy!"

"I'm serious. I think you swept the superpowered lottery, caoimhneil . Clark, son, I'm sorry you got the ability to get pregnant, but you have the cutest son."

His mom laughed. "Connor is amazing, isn't he, but Clark and Connor aren't actually meteor-infected like Chloe."

"Then you were born that way?" Gabe asked. "You know, I read this article in The Inquisitor once about the hidden epidemic of pregnant men."

"No, that's not...epidemic?"

"It's as real as the alligators in the Metropolis sewers."

"Oh weird," Clark replied. He'd never thought of human guys having that problem. Of course, The Inquisitor was also full of crap.

"Gabe," his mom said, reaching up and pulling the tiny shades off of Kon's eyes. "Connor and Clark aren't quite from around here."

Gabe glanced at Kon's eyes and, after a moment, grinned widely. "You are so Irish, aren't you? Look at those shamrock eyes."

"Unbelievable," Clark replied. "Your whole family has no weird-dar whatsoever, Chlo."

"Connor's still beautiful, Clark. You should be proud, even if you two are...wait, I'm confused. You aren't meteor infected and you're from out of town? Are you from some Cold War country? Is it a genetic engineering thing?"

"Hah! I told you it wasn't as stupid an excuse as it sounds."

"Or it means that you and my dad think scary-alike," she replied. "Daddy, Kon was very definitely born here. Trust me, I saw it happen."

Gabe glanced for a moment down at Clark's lap and blushed. "Oh."

"But Clark and Kara aren't from Kansas or Russia either."

"Where are they from?"

"Actually, Mr. Sullivan, I'm from a planet called Krypton." Yeah, like that didn't sound nuts.

Gabe considered this and grinned widely. "Great, so you can finally answer all my questions."

"What?"

"I've been reading The Inquisitor for twenty years, Clark. I have to know. Why probing?"

Kon, as if he understood English and maybe he did, burst out into a riot of giggles.

Clark just banged his head carefully on the kitchen table. "It's not true. I don't do that. I just get pregnant and float and sometimes set things on fire with my eyes but I don't do that. Stupid stereotypes."

"So that thing about cows?"

"Not true either."

"And you're not little and green?"

"Nope."

"Well that's just disappointing."

Chloe sighed. "Well, give him about two months and Connor will have enough juice in him to move stuff with his mind."

"Really?" Gabe asked, brightening.

"Oh definitely," his mom replied, tickling under Kon's chin. "Our grandson is very talented, Gabe."

"Our?"

Clark finally picked his head back up. "Yeah, about that. Chloe and I got married but it was a Kryptonian ceremony and I was really super pregnant at the time. I'm sorry I didn't invite you."

Gabe nodded and narrowed his eyes at Clark. "But you'll make an honest woman of her before Connor gets a little brother or sister, won't you?"

Chloe laughed. "Why not, daddy? I made an honest man out of him."

Kon clapped and Clark glared at his son. "Traitor."


	49. Chapter 50

50

Six Months  
>"You know, kid, even though this is a hole in the wall of the first order, I don't think it's always safe for us to be meeting like this."<p>

Clark sighed and set down his menu. "I know, but I needed to talk to you anyway."

Perry White nodded and slipped into the booth across from him. "At least I'm getting a free meal out of it."

"I didn't say I'd treat you."

"But you might, right kid?"

"I'm having a couple slices of pie, you can have one," he rejoined.

"Clark," Perry started, all kidding drained from his voice. "What am I actually doing here? I've been passing covert information to Chloe for months, ever since I contacted you and Kara. Everything his stooges have almost gotten his hands on, I've helped to bury."

"I know and I appreciate that all those incident reports from Jax's school that just disappeared."

"So you noticed?"

"I didn't," Clark admitted, handing Kon a bottle to help keep him pacified in the creaking monstrosity that passed for a high chair here. "I have a few friends who can dig up records better than anyone."  
>"The Lady Editor?"<p>

"No, a pro at this." He said, referring to Victor. "Jax mentioned something about having problems in art class or a few other times and it seemed odd to me that Lex was going to let it drop, that the reporter was so convinced that nothing was there. So we double-checked."

"It was some of my best lead burying, I'm hurt."

"Like I said," Clark replied, grinning as Kon started guzzling. "I had to call in an expert to find it. Mr. White, I can't thank you enough for trying to help with all of this. I still can't figure out why."

"You're a good kid and the Lady Editor is one the best partners I've ever had. It didn't seem right to leave you two in the lurch. Besides, I make it a principle to make life difficult for the Luthors." Perry replied, snatching one of Clark's orders of apple pie from the waitress and digging into it. "Say, Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Is the milk green?"

"No?" Clark stated, blushing furiously.

Perry chuckled. "Kid, you are never going to learn to lie at all, are you?"

"It's the bottle. It's tinted."

Perry laughed harder. "Just try and keep on top of these things. How are Connor's inoculations going?"

"Good, actually. Lex's childhood doctor has given all of them." Or, more accurately, been paid handsomely by Lionel to say that he had.

"Good, that's great," Perry said, eying Kon, who'd made short work of his meal, hesitantly.

Clark frowned. "You don't like him?" Maybe Perry did know everything. His insensitive Roswell joke certainly implied that he had. Sure his son might drink green milk and he might look a little funny in his tiny shades, but he was also the cutest baby in the known universe. Even J'onn agreed on that one. "That's not fair."

Perry bit into another forkful. "Kid, the looks have nothing to do with who Connor is as much as the fact that I don't do babies. Alice asked once and I just can't deal with the diapers or the midnight feedings. All squirts make me nervous, not just the special ones."

"First of all," Clark defended lamely. "Connor's completely normal. Second, the feedings do suck a lot." He could quite stop himself from rubbing at his chest and Perry's smirk broadened.

"No, Clark, he's very cute and if I liked kids, I'd be all over him, but I don't go in for that sort of thing. So, what are we meeting about?"

"Lex Luthor."

"All we talk about is Lex."

"No, we talk about what Lex might have on me, but I want to talk about what you or any other reporter you know might have on Lex."

"You're related to the Lady Editor and Mad Dog Lane," he reminded.

"I know that but they don't have anything. Chloe's sources are dry on this one. I was hoping that the best way to keep Kon safe was to just get Lex distracted with legal problems of his own. If he can't get out of jail then he can't touch us, but I haven't been able to make it work." And they hadn't. In the last three months, they'd swept Cairo, Oslo, and Johannesburg and there wasn't anything in any of the 33.1 labs that was smoking gun. Lex was too good at covering his tracks. Even Lionel hadn't been unable to find anything and he still owned a substantial amount of stock in the company.

It was maddening.

"I don't have anything for you, kid. Not right now, at least. I can ask around at the DP and even at the Journal, but Lex has been very good at cultivating his image with charitable donations and he's bought off the EPA and the SEC. No one's lodged any complaints against him since Connor's mother turned out not to actually be dead."

"Lana," Clark corrected, pulling the now empty bottle away from Kon and cleaning his chin. "Chloe's Kon's mother. We don't talk about Lana in front of him."

Perry frowned. "I can understand that. He's too little to understand anything right now, but Clark, you're very naïve if you think that he'll never figure out that Chloe's not his biological mother. She doesn't look a thing like him."

"I know that and I'll figure that out when he's old enough. My parents didn't tell me I was adopted until I was nine." Although, he always had been suspicious or maybe more like confused. He knew enough to know he didn't look anything like his mom or dad either and that average people couldn't lift tractors.

"Alright, Clark. I'm just saying that hiding things is not your strong point. I'll start putting feelers out for Lex, but he's Teflon. There are Mafia dons who wished they could get away with half of what he does."

"I know." Kon, who had grown restless by this point, managed to knock off his sunglasses, exposing his still abnormally bright eyes. Clark gulped and, moving as fast as human speed would allow, slipped the glasses back onto Kon's nose. "Mr. White, about that-"

"Get little straps for them, Clark." Perry replied, throwing a few bills onto the table. "Also, I lied. I can see it now. Eyes that green? He's got a little of Miss Sullivan in him after all."

"Connor Sullivan," Clark reminded, tickling his son's chin. "Mr. White about that though, really, I…what do you think you know?"

"That you're a bad poker player and you should bring your cousin to the negotiations more often. Clark, I know that he's a cute kid and even I like him and that's saying a lot. Just take care of him for me." Then Perry surprised him by reaching down and tickling Kon's stomach. His son giggled loudly and grabbed at Perry's hand.

"He likes you."

"Imagine that."

"Mr. White, Chloe's already planning out how to get him into Columbia for the journalism program. If he ever needs a reference."  
>Perry snorted. "It's funny, considering all your privacy concerns."<p>

"What?"

"You're a whole family of journalists. Clark, if the Planet is ever the Planet again, I'll look out for Connor's resume, but the one I wish we had was yours."

"Mine? Mr. White, I just wrote lunch menus and articles about gym mats."

"No, you wrote a few good human interest pieces. The Lady Editor had the facts for every time one of your more unfortunate classmates went rogue, but you had the softer, introspective side. The piece you wrote on Miss Baker-"

"Please don't."

"You have a lot of talent, Clark. I hope it's not just Connor who seeks me out when he's ready."

"Uh, thanks," Clark replied, blushing.

"Don't mention it. Now, TTFN, I have an evil boss to slay," he answered, slipping out the door.

Kon turned and frowned at his father. "Yeah, buddy, I think he's weird too, but at least he fits right in with us."

His son, in all his profound wisdom, just started sucking his thumb.

"Give him here!" Gabe demanded, taking Kon out of Clark's arms.

He rolled his eyes and foisted Kon off onto his grandfather. "It's been like this since I got pregnant, you know. No one wants to see me anymore. First it was all about Chloe being creepily possessive of my bump and now it's all about everyone hugging Kon."

Gabe paled a little and glanced down at Clark's stomach which, now, was as flat as it ever was. "Is it okay that I'm glad I missed that part?"

"No guys are comfortable with it," Clark conceded. "Sometimes I do things with some of the toughest guys in the world, and they all look like they'd rather be anywhere else when I nurse."

Gabe chuckled and bounced Kon playfully on his hip. "I don't think you're going to find any volunteers to join your club, Clark. I remember when Moira was pregnant with Chloe…none of it was fun. The mood swings," he added, shivering.

Clark whistled. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not looking forward to that with Chloe."

Gabe glared at him and, despite his superstrength, Clark was suddenly afraid. "You did what?"

"No, no. It's not like that," he replied, holding up his hands. "Look, I sleep four hours a night with just the one little guy. Chloe doesn't even want to try for a second until she gets a Pulitzer. I just meant that I was pretty good with the mood swings."

Gabe laughed, "That's not what Lois says."

"I was pretty good with them," Clark defended huffily. "But a hormonal Chloe? It would be a great thing that she doesn't have heat vision, you know?"

Gabe frowned. "What now?"

"Oh right, I forget sometimes what I told you and what I didn't," he said, settling down onto his father-in-law's sofa. "I have heat vision. It's kind of like lasers from my eyes, but completely safe."

Gabe looked nervously down at Kon who was busy drooling all over one clenched baby fist. "He can't do that, can he?"

"Nope. Kon's pretty normal," Clark replied. "He doesn't feel temperatures like a human would and his hearing is really sensitive. It's sometimes hard when we go out to The Talon or into Metropolis because he hates the noise, but otherwise, he's just like a human baby so far."

"So he wouldn't cry for a diaper change and singe my eyebrows."

"Oh no. I didn't even get that one until I was in high school. It's, uh, a puberty thing," he offered.

Gabe nodded, his eyes still wide. "Your father and mother are saints, aren't they?"

"I've always thought so," Clark replied. "I broke a lot of stuff when I was younger. Hell, Kara still breaks things now. It's just the way it is."

"And is my grandson behaving himself and not breaking things?"  
>"Behaving? Never. I think I gave birth to a bona fide night owl," Clark grumped. "I don't need to sleep all that much, but I miss it. Chloe and I take turns, but he can be fussy."<p>

That made Gabe grin wider. Reaching down, he tickled Kon's stomach. "That sounds like his mother too. Chloe was up at eleven to watch Conan when she was still in diapers."

"I miss sleep," Clark moaned. "I miss…um…other things."

Gabe narrowed his eyes at him. "My daughter is virtuous and pure as driven snow. You're not implying that you're missing anything like that."

"Oh no, sir," Clark replied, frowning.

"What?"

"Is it wrong to admit that you and Lois both scare the crap out of me?"

"I couldn't shadow box a mosquito."

"I know," he replied, standing back up and grabbing his keys. "Lois is scary in the physically menacing even though she's human way. You're Chloe's dad. I know what I'd do to any girl who tries to sully Kon."

Gabe chuckled and followed him out the door and to the car. "So would he?"

"No, I just got screwed, literally. It's a contingency plan. I mean, how many infertile girls are out there, anyway? I mean, Chlo's totally on deck for the next Kent bundle of joy."

Gabe sighed as he climbed into the truck. "Still, I wish I'd seen it. I bet it was hilarious."

"It wasn't."

"No, I'm pretty sure it must have been funny," he replied as they headed into the heart of Gotham.

"Smallville, I don't know why you dragged me out to Gotham to do this," Lois groused. "There are tons of stores in Metropolis."

Clark sighed and adjusted the straps of that papoose-thingy Kon was in. "I know that there are tons of stores in Metropolis, but Chloe's smart and she'd figure this out. I'm trying to keep the whole thing below the radar. I want this to be a surprise."

"Kon's in on it."

"Notice how Kara's not and Kon doesn't talk yet," he objected. "I asked you and Gabe to come with me today because it's important."

Lois frowned and leaned against one of the counters in the jewelry store they'd chosen. "She already has a wedding band and there was the, um, first ceremony. I don't know why the second one should be such drama."

"Because," he continued. "The first time was under stress. I meant, you all know I did, but I want to be able to do something nice for Chlo. I really want to impress her." Kon stirred and glared up at his Aunt Lois. He let out a string of incoherent babble that, oddly enough, reminded him of Kara in her more pissed off moods.

"Did my baby cousin just school me?" Lois asked.

He nodded. "It looks like. Just help me out here, gang, you know Chloe's tastes."

Gabe considered that and started looking through the solitaires with him. "I'm still impressed you asked me for her hand. That's endearingly old fashioned."

"Well, my dad tried that with my mom. It just kind of back fired."

"Of course, even considering where Kon comes from, it's a little late to ask. I think all three of you are a package deal from now on."

Clark sighed happily. "I think so too, but it's polite to ask."

"Oh, jeez Smallville, you are so small town," Lois bellowed before turning back to the display case she'd been perusing.

"Don't take it personally, Clark. Lois is a romantic at heart, she just doesn't want anyone to know it. She's the one who got Chloe hooked on Julia Roberts movies when they were kids."

"That's a lie!" Lois shouted back.

The attendant, a man in a suit that surely cost more than any Clark had ever owned, coughed pointedly and glared at him. "Is there something that I can help you with, sir?"

Clark looked down at his flannel shirt which might have been stained, just a little, with Kon spit-up and gulped. "I'm looking for an engagement ring. My, uh, fiance's cousin and father are trying to help me out."

"And is that your fiance's son?"

"He's ours, actually," Clark clarified. "We sort of did things a little backwards."

"But it totally works for you, Smallville," Lois chimed in, stepping back up next to him. "Don't mess with the penguin, though. I've found something that's perfect."

"Ah, Lois," Clark started, thinking back over her love for '80s hair bands and tight shirts. "I don't know if this is a good idea."

"Lo, show us what you found," Gabe encouraged.

She nodded and drug Clark by the arm (he had no idea how she had that effect on him either), to the far case. "Now, look at that and be amazed by me and all my skills."

Clark leaned down as close as he could with Kon in tow and frowned. "Which one?"

"Which one? Isn't it obvious? I mean, who makes a ring like this on?" She asked pointing to the beautiful platinum band in the far left corner.

"That's very nice, Lo," Gabe remarked. "I didn't even know they made wedding rings with turquoise in them.

"They don't," the sales clerk replied. "This is an antique piece, sold off at the turn of the century. It was in vogue for a time in Gotham to have this style of ring, but that's long past. I haven't had anyone so much as look at it in ages."

"So, how much?" Clark asked, hoping he could actually afford the clever setting of cut turquoise and diamond.

"4,000."

He gulped. "Well, buddy, you didn't need to go to college anyway."

"Yeah, right, Kara says Lionel has that covered and even if he didn't, Ollie would," Lois added.

Gabe shook his head. "I can't be the best spoiling grandfather with Lionel around."

"First of all, Lionel is not Kon's grandfather. Second, I haven't taken the money yet, and third, I'm not going to make Ollie pay for Kon's college either."

"Oh of course not. Kon will just win some mysteriously appearing scholarship, but it won't be related to Ollie, no way."  
>"Clark, can you afford that? I think Chloe would prefer you save up for Kon than waste money on a ring."<p>

Wow. Chloe's dad sounded just like his mom. Weird. "Sir," he said, turning to the sales clerk. "Do you have an installment plan?"

"Of course, but we'll need a thousand dollars down."

Clark pulled out his checkbook and started to write as best he could, maneuvering his arm around Kon as best he could. He'd been saving up for this for the last six months, and he'd even picked up doing chores and repairs for Ben Hubbard and a few other farms in order to get enough into his account. He could afford it. "Thank you sir. It's a pleasure doing business with you."

Kon looked up at the salesman and nodded.

Gabe glanced at Lois nervously, "Well, we should just get the ring in a box now, right?"

The attendant who was still quirking his head at Kon, snapped out of his confusion, and started doing as he was asked. Shoving the checkbook back into his jeans, Clark leaned over toward Gabe. "You're going to be a trained secret keeper in no time like that."

"I try."


	50. Chapter 51

51

Chloe sighed and leaned contentedly against Clark's chest. The golden glow was beginning to seep out of her skin and a general calm seemed to be settling over her features. "Wow, you were-"  
>He smirked. "Great? Wonderful?"<p>

"Adequate," she replied, grinning. "You know that the reason this is so earth moving, though not literally yet, is because I'm awesome, don't you."

"Nope, it's me," he replied, glancing down at the mattress several feet below them. "I put you on cloud nine, don't I?"

"Corny," she chided, her skin finally returning to its natural hues. "Just keep thinking you're so good at everything."

"I am. I never hear you complain."

"Maybe, but Kara could have a point about Jimmy-"

He was on her then, still careful to keep one arm wrapped around her waist. He kissed her violently, pushing his lips against hers, feeling teeth touch. Chloe was definitely his and, as much as he liked the other guy, she would never be Jimmy Freaking Olsen's again. "No, it's all me."

"Maybe a little," she conceded, kissing him back much more softly. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Where'd the sudden wind fall of energy come from? Not that you've been stand offish. You haven't. But the harried parent thing wasn't exactly leading to anything like this."  
>"I wanted to spoil you."<p>

"Well, you can do that with cake," she joked.

He smiled back at her. "I'm serious, Chlo. I've been thinking a lot lately about us and-"

"What about us?"

"Well as great as the bracelet looks on you," he started and then he screamed. A loud buzzing assaulted his ears. It was so much worse than that piercing signal in Chloe's dorm that year. It was worse. His concentration broke and they both slammed onto the bed. Clamping his hands over his ears in the vain attempt to shut the noise out, he curled in on himself.

"Clark?"

"God, what is that noise?"

"I don't hear anything."

"It's awful," he gasped out, still struggling to block out the noise. Then another one caught his attention. Kon was wailing in the room across from theirs. Forcing himself up, Clark sped into the room and then he stopped. "Whoa."

"Clark, is he okay? Why did you just stop?" Chloe asked, her eyes going wide when she spied what he had.

The noise was dimming finally, the shrill whine fading out and Clark figured whatever radio signal it was had ceased. Instead, his ears hurt from the sound of his son's screams. He started hesitantly over to his son's crib. Kon was floating several feet above it. Apparently, he wasn't a happy thought kind of flier.

Leaning over, Clark wrapped his arms around his son and drew him into his chest. "Hey, buddy, shh. It's okay." Kon was screaming still and Clark winced when a crack snaked its way through the window closest to the crib. "Buddy, you have to calm down, alright?" He asked, rocking his son.

Chloe sidled up to them and frowned. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, the noise stopped. I think it just scared him."

Chloe held at her arms, "Give him here."

"Why?"

"This is a job for mom," she replied, cradling their son when he handed him off. She started singing something soft and possibly Gaelic, one of those songs she said she'd learned from her Grammy Sullivan when she'd been littler herself. Clark looked on at his family as Chloe's voice rose and Kon stilled, his wail becoming quiet, choked sobs.

"Hey, was that rough, little guy?"

Kon curled up tighter against Chloe's chest. "He's going to be okay, isn't he?"

"Our ears feel fine now," he replied. "It stung but it doesn't hurt me anymore and my ears are still a lot more sensitive than his are." He whistled and reached his hand for the crack in the window. "Kon did that."

"Yeah," she said, still cooing at their son. "Well, J'onn said his powers would probably come back when he was this age."

Clark swallowed. "Can we replace the glass with plastic? I don't like the idea of anything breaking around him. His skin's still vulnerable too."

Chloe sighed, "We can call Ollie in the morning. I'm not asking him to pay for it, but you've broken a lot of windows in his penthouse, maybe he knows where to get a good deal on windo repairs."

"Yeah," Clark replied, stroking Kon's hair. He hadn't fallen back to sleep but he was much quieter. "I don't like the noise. I can't figure it out. The buzzing, well I was getting used to it, but that was so loud. Did you check public works?"

"There aren't any towers that are new, Clark," she replied, frowning. "It has to be something else."

He yawned. "We'll figure it out in the morning. Chlo, do you mind if Kon stays with us? I can set up his bassinet in a second."

"I was going to insist on it."

Chloe was gone in the morning. She hightailed it to Ollie's apartment (by way of the blonde Kent Express) and was then going to hit up all her sources to see if there was illegal construction in Smallville. So far, the noise hadn't returned, but that didn't help Clark much. Kon was subdued this morning. He was usually giggly and a little rambunctious, like his big cousin Kara, but right now he just lay listlessly in Clark's arms, suckling half-heartedly. "Hey, buddy, I know the noise was really scary."

Kon stopped and blinked up at him and Clark pulled down the hem of his t-shirt.

"No, it's going to be fine. Mommy's going to find where the noise was coming from and we're going to make it stop. That way you'll feel better. Mommy's smart and she'll figure it out."

Kon considered this and quirked his head at Clark.

"I know. It did hurt."

Kon babbled and set his head back against Clark's chest.

"It's okay, it can be a quiet day. I get that. Ooh, would you like to see what daddy bought for mommy?" Kon didn't say anything and, technically, no matter how smart he seemed, Clark didn't really expect a reaction. Standing up he made his way over to the old flour canister and pulled out the small velvet box, which held the ring he'd purchased yesterday. He set Kon gently on the counter and helped to keep him balanced with one broad hand. Opening up the box, he titled it so that the morning sunlight caught the facets of the diamond.

"Blu-li-eooo"

"Yes, it is very pretty. Isn't it?"

"Exquisite."  
>Clark's entire body felt as it had that time with Sean Kelvin. He hadn't heard that voice in six months, and had been trying very hard to forget about the last time he had. Turning around, Clark clutched Kon tightly to his chest. "Lex."<p>

"That's not a very friendly reception," the other man said, passing through the door and shutting it behind him.

"I didn't invite you here."

"I invited myself. After all these years, the backdoor is still left open. That's foolish, Clark. I know you're so trusting, but you can't afford to be, not with someone as precious as Kon."

Clark stiffened. In all the press releases, when they were in public, it was Connor. It was always Connor, since that was how his birth certificate read. Only the Bros and his family called Kon by his real name. "What do you want? Lana's not here, but everyone knows that."

"Why would I want to see Lana?" Lex asked, coming to lean against the far side of the island.

"Because you were obsessed with her, stuff like that. There's no reason for you to be here to see me and Connor."

"Maybe there is," Lex said and there was the faintest woosh, a clicking sound that Clark couldn't identify, and then he felt it.

Pain.

The awful bone deep pain of Kryptonite poisoning. It hurt and Clark shuddered, struggling to keep himself standing. Kon was screaming and he could already see the ugly green cast crawling across the skin of his son's face.

Lex, the bastard was smiling. "Now that is interesting." Kon was wailing now, twice as loud as he had last night, and the mug Clark had been drinking tea out of shattered. Lex's smile widened. "Very interesting."

Clark gritted his teeth, in too much pain to care what had happened. "Lex, please, just cover it back up."

"Cover what?"

"The meteor rock."

"You mean 'Kryptonite,' don't you?" He asked, holding out a large signet ring, glowing a sickly emerald. His fingers flicked and a thin sheath of lead slid back over the rock. Clark gasped and felt the pain recede, overjoyed when Kon's color returned to normal. "Well," Lex drawled. "That answers that question."

"What question?" Clark asked, eying the door.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"You move and I call the government in on your cousin and Jackson Donovan. If you hear me out, Kara and Jax get to stay out of a petri dish."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Clark lied, but he stayed where he was. He couldn't risk doing anything to get Kara and Jackson in trouble as well. He'd promised. He was the one everyone else counted on; it was his responsibility to keep their sad little band of exiles safe.

"Let me make it simple for you, Clark," Lex said, reaching out to touch Kon's cheek and Clark, despite himself, slapped Lex's hand away, although no harder than any ex-football player would have.

By much.

"Don't touch him."

"Fine, I'll have time for that soon enough," Lex replied, leaning back on his heels. "I'm going to simplify everything for you. Did you know that I own The Talon?"

"Yeah, I helped Lana prepare her pitch so you'd buy it. I've known that for seven years."

"Did you really know it? Because did it never occur to you that I'd put cameras in The Talon just like I did at the mansion?"

Clark felt that numbing cold again. "You what?"

"I've had The Talon apartment filled with cameras since Tobias identified Chloe as a meteor freak. I saw you burn that chip out of her. I know where Kara comes from, what all three of you are," he said, casting a glance at Kon. "Can you imagine how entertaining my day was when I reviewed my tapes and watched you confess to Chloe that you were pregnant?"

Clark gulped. "I wasn't. I don't know-"

"What I'm talking about. You're a terrible liar and it's no use. I know what the rocks do to you, at least the blue and green kinds. I have my suspicions about the red. I have hours of video tape over the last three years from The Talon and the Planet's break room." He shook his head. "I have to admit, I was frustrated when you stopped coming by in the second trimester, but I found a way around that."

"How?"

"I bugged Chloe and Kara. LuthorCorp engineers cutting edge electronics. I was able to slip on an audio recording device so sensitive that Kara didn't even know she was wearing it. I slipped one on you that day at The Talon. None of you even noticed."

"The buzz. That noise we've been hearing. That's what's been making all that noise."

Lex nodded. "One of the transmitters malfunctioned last night. Something more high tech I'd slipped into that hideous purse of Chloe's. It's more complex, but it's also the only one with a video feed."

Clark thought back to the fraggle purse and where he'd seen it last. Chloe'd come home from shopping with Kara yesterday and dropped on the floor of Kon's nursery. It was still sitting there; he'd almost tripped over it. "You saw."

"I did. I've been waiting for that. You're fascinating, you and Kara, but I've been waiting to see if Kon would display the same kind of telekinesis you seemed to acquire in the latter months. I wanted to be sure that he had inherited your gifts before I came to see him, and now I know. Enhanced hearing, flight and telekinesis and he's not even seven months old. Remarkable."

He'd gone Porsche shopping with Lex just once. The tone he spoke with now was the same one he'd reserved for waxing poetic about the newest sound system or specialty leather interior. "What do you want?"

"I think that's obvious. Ideally, one day, I'd like all four of you. If Jax is anywhere near as powerful as Kon will be, then that makes him interesting."

"Jax isn't a part of this. He and Kara and Kon? They're off the table. If you want to experiment on someone, you can have me."

"I don't want you, Clark, not all on your own. I have months worth of medical records on you. Granted, none of them tested your heat vision or your hearing. It's not as complete as I'd like, but I know more about your biochemistry than you ever did."

"Lana did sell me out."

"No, Dr. Russell was compromised early in the project. I positioned him so that Lana would find him. He was always in my employ."

No. That couldn't be possible. Dr. Schwartz? He of the easily blackmailed? Of course, he'd sell them out, but Dr. Russell had been nice. He'd always joked with him and Kara, treated them like human beings. He'd offered Clark bits of advice on how to be a father.

"He couldn't have."

"He did. His son's a meteor freak like your wife," Lex replied casually. "He was in 33.1 for a few years for a 'breathing condition.' He can blow up a wind a lot like what you and Kara can do. I traded him his son's freedom for your son's freedom. He was more than amenable."

"I…you can't have Kon. You can't."

Lex sighed, apparently bored by the back and forth. "I can have him and am taking him now. Clark, you don't understand. I have everything. I have months of records that prove, irrevocably, that your, Kara, and your son aren't human. I can turn them over to the federal government whenever I choose. If you come with me, I promise that no one will ever know what I can prove about your cousin and what you've said, on tape, about Jackson. If you don't, I'll turn all four of you over and you won't like what happens to you then."

"You're going to cut us up anyway," he spat.

"No, I'm not," he replied, peering down at Kon. "I don't want a science project."

"You always want a science project."

"No, this time…can you really not guess what I want?"

"No, I can't."

"I want a son. I couldn't have one with Lana because of whatever's wrong with her, but now she has a biological child and one with such power. He's perfect to be a Luthor."

Clark had to remind himself not to grip too tightly onto Kon in his panic. Having Lex raise Kon-El would be worse than if the Fortress tried it. "No, he's my son."

"No, he's not anymore. I'm taking both of you and you're going to do this the civilized way. I have a team of twenty men all with more Kryptonite on them than I have. They can drag you out but I'd rather not risk Kon's health like that. Besides, if I have to drag you out, I'll ruin everything-I'll take Jackson, release Kara's records, send someone from 33.1 for Chloe. You get to choose Clark."

"I promised him that I'd protect him," Clark protested, looking down at his son who was beginning to cry again.

"And you can. Clark, I'm taking him either way and you have to come with us. There's nothing on Earth like you. There's nothing anywhere that can provide Kon with the nutrients he needs to survive. If you don't come with me, if I called the government on you, do you think they'd ever let you see him? Do you think they'd care enough to let you nurse him?"

Despite everything, Clark blushed and looked down at the floor. "No, they wouldn't."

Lex laughed. "I have the feed for that too, for the day it happened, it's the video. That was amusing."

Clark hated the way Lex's lip curled up in amusement. Hated being exposed for both being a freak and for being so unable to protect his family. "Fuck you."

"And that would be one for the swear jar," he quipped, pulling a band of refined blue K out of his pocket. "Give me your arm."

"No."

"Very well," Lex replied, pulling out his cell phone and pressing the speed dial. "I hope you can explain to Mary Donovan why her son's about to be in a cage."

"Wait," he said, shifting Kon in his arm and getting a tight grip on him. Reaching out his left arm, he let Lex snap the band shut around it. As he watched, Lex placed an impossibly small bracelet around Kon's arm as well. "Not him."

"A precaution. I know it won't affect the telekinesis, but it's best to be prepared for any contingency. Someone should have told you that, Clark. Now, hand me my son."

"I…"

"Do it!" Lex demanded. "I get tired of explaining how the rules work."

Clark glared at him and handed over Kon. He could figure something out, but he couldn't afford to anger Lex. Kara and Jax were vulnerable. There was no one to warn them or help them escape. If he didn't keep Lex happy, so many more people would suffer for it. Lex cradled Kon as gently as he'd done that blanket years ago in the horse stables.

"Hello, Joseph."

Kon started to wail and the kitchen window shattered.

"Doesn't look like he likes you at all, Lex."

Lex glared at Clark, his mood a hundred times darker than it had been. "He'll learn to love me. Remember that, Clark. I'm the father now and you? You're just food for him, and when he no longer needs you…"

"What?"

"I'll have my alien to dissect, now start walking."


	51. Chapter 52

52

Clark watched out the window as the limo pulled away from the farmhouse in which he'd been raised and in which Kon had been born. He wondered as they pulled down the dusty drive if he'd ever see it again. There were two men, one on either side of him, and they each had guns drawn and in their hands. Clark was almost flattered they'd taken the effort. He was frantic but not crazy. Without his powers, he'd never make a move. Honestly, even if he did have them, doing anything with bullets near his still vulnerable son was something he'd be hesitant to do at all.

Kon was crying loudly and Clark flinched when one of the windows near him cracked.

Lex was trying to shush him and, honestly, wasn't doing a bad job of it. He was surprisingly gentle with Kon and Clark could see how practiced he was. His mom had once told him how sickly and fickle Lillian had been. Chloe said that there were a lot of rumors running rampant about her being post partum. He wondered how often Lex had been stuck taking care of Julian.

"You're...it's not right," Clark said, leaning forward and freezing the second that he heard a hammer being pulled back.

Lex looked back at him and stilled Kon in his arms. "What do you mean?"

"I...he doesn't like to be jiggled. He likes to be rocked slowly. It's just how I put him down at night. I could show you."

"No, just tell me if I'm approximating it."

Clark nodded, remembering that he was just the food there. "You have yo rock him, but not too much. He's not a huge fan of being moved. It's just a little but of motion."

Lex nodded and adjusted everything, just rocking Kon slightly, the movement barely perceptible. Kon whimpered still but he did manage to quiet, his bright eyes never leaving Clark's face. "That's better. That's much better, isn't it, Joseph?"

Clark swallowed at the thought of Kon one day believing that was his name, of his son not even knowing him a year from now. "It's Connor," he replied tersely.

"Not for long," Lex replied as they arrived at the mansion. He stepped out of the limo, still cradling Kon tightly to him. "My security will show you to your room."

"I'm not staying with him?"

"There's a nursery already set up. He'll be there. If we need you, well I know where to find you, don't I?"

Clark tensed his hand into a fist and, in that moment, wished he hadn't let Lex put the bracelet on his wrist. "I understand." He glanced back at Kon, who was still watching him intently. "Buddy, I'll be back soon," he cooed. "It's fine, you know that?"

Kon considered that and shook his head.

Lex blinked. "Are you serious?"

Clark hesitated. "I don't know if he understands English or Kryptonian yet. He just seems really smart."

"How smart are you and Kara really?"

He sighed as they proceeded up the mansion's steps and into the cool front hall. "Not smart enough, apparently, considering I got caught. What do you want me to say? My parents never had me tested for anything. It's not like I IQ tested at all."

"Your SATs were above average but not stellar."

"I cheated," Clark admitted, still aching out to stroke the top of Kon's head.

"What?"

"I, okay, so cheating isn't the right way to say it. I intentionally put the wrong answers so I wouldn't end up with a perfect score. I think all four of us are very bright, at least with math stuff. I don't know what that means for him. It's not like they had a Kryptonian baby care book at the Barnes and Noble. I mean, Kara was around for me, but she says I didn't talk much before I was sent away."

"You're doing a lot of guesswork, aren't you?" Lex replied, frowning.

"There aren't any records from my other family and there haven't been any human-Kryptonians for centuries. We're trying to figure things out."

"Did you even think of taking him to a doctor?" Lex asked and Clark shivered at the paternal concern he heard in his tone.

"We were at ISIS and then, even after that, I didn't feel like there was anyone I could trust. Why? He's Kryptonian. He doesn't get sick."

"Do you know that or are you guessing?"

Clark sighed. It was the same question Chloe had asked him about Kon and pneumonia. "He seems like me. That was the best guess that I had."

"You know that we'll be seeing a doctor in the morning, don't you?"

"No, I thought you said that he wasn't a specimen. We don't do doctors."

Lex shook his head. "Clark, he's half human. Humans need to have inoculations and check-ups. You do understand that."

"And it will be every day and he'll live down there like with Lana and ISIS!"

"Maybe, but it's better to err on the side of caution with him. You don't want him to be sick if you can prevent it, do you?"

"And then you can take extra blood work and see if you can get him to move things telekinetically and float on command eventually would be part of it too."

"I won't deny that there will be tests for Kon. Your parents helped you learn to harness your powers. I assume that you've done the same for Kara since she's been here."

"Not in some lab with a bunch of men in white coats. They never did that."

"Joseph will never know the difference. It will become part of his routine and going to the doctor for him will be a normal daily task."

"It won't ever feel normal."

"And how would you know? You've never been routinely, have you?"

"Not until ISIS, no."

"My father took me every day for at least a year. They were worried that I'd contracted carcinogenic radiation poisoning. I assure you, eventually one gets bored with the prodding."

"Lionel did that?"

"It was a valid concern, although his efforts to find a way to restore hair growth were less than successful. Don't worry, it won't be anything for Joseph like it would have been in 33.1."

"You're not even thinking of taking him there."

"No, I'm not. That's beneath my son, but he will be taken care of. I think I'm better disposed to that than you were ever going to be. He needs specific care, Clark. Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to take him to his nursery."

Clark watched as he disappeared up the stairs and to the left wing of the house. He wasn't surprised in the least when he was forced to march towards the right. Of course they wouldn't want him to be too close to Kon. Wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea after all. He was only the father.

Clark was lying on the bed of his new quarters. He wasn't sure how much faith Lex had in his fail safes or in his word. One of his minions had walked him to his room, at least not at visible gunpoint, that would have been insulting. But the room was locked from the outside. He assumed he'd be summoned when Kon got hungry.

It was beyond humiliating.

However, three hours had passed and he still hadn't heard from anyone. His room wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it would have put most four star hotels to shame. He tried to flip through the channels, tried to find anything to occupy his time until they'd let him see Kon again. Right now, all there was, was the deafening silence where his son's heartbeat should have been. Even though he knew better, to his instincts, it felt as if Kon's heart had stopped and he had to force back the panic every time he listened for it unconsciously and freaked out when he couldn't perceive it.

He tried the doorknob for roughly the tenth time in the last five minutes. It was still as locked ass ever. His escape plan was going to have to be upgraded. It had been several hours by now. Chloe would have noticed that he and Kon hadn't visited her downtown at The Ledger for lunch. The cavalry would be coming. But even if they...

The house shook then and Clark corrected his thoughts.

Nope, someone had found him.

The door opened in short order and he wasn't surprised to see a flushed Lex in front of him. "You have company. Do you want to see her?"

"Kara?"

"The one and only. She's not one for discretion."

"She wouldn't be. If you've harmed her-"

"You'll do nothing. Clark, do yourself a favor and don't threaten anyone. It's beyond desperate. Simply come downstairs with me and explain to her why neither you or Joseph is going anywhere. Or, of course, I could rescind my offer to leave her alone."

Clark slammed the door behind him and rushed down the stairs, gaping at Kara. She was in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by half a dozen of Lex's guards. The green glow was pulsating all around her and Clark was sure that they each had green K on them.

"Kara!"

"Kal?" She gasped, frowning when he easily made his way down to her. "What's going on?"

"Lex, please. She's not going to hurt anybody. Kara, do you promise not to do anything?"

She glared at the heavy lead manacle around his wrist. "He put Blue K on you?"

"I let him, big cousin. Please calm down. I promised and he's not going to hurt you."

"Promised what?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Please," he said, turning to Lex. "Please just tell them to back up."

Lex nodded. "Let her stand."

The guards fell back but the glow didn't completely stop pouring through the hall. Clark knew enough to bet that Kara still felt terrible, even if she could stand. Helping her to her feet, he asked. "Why did you come?"

"Oh, hello. You're welcome, Kal. I'm in The Talon, doing my job, and then I hear your and Kon's heart racing. Then they're just gone and it took hours for James to help me find you."

"What?"

"There's a signal blocking your heartbeats in the mansion," he replied. "I didn't quite expect your friends to have figured everything out this fast."

"You knew that when Chloe came home and I wasn't there, then they'd come right here."

"True," Lex replied, eying Kara. "You can say your piece and leave."

"Or I can take him with me, you sorry piece of shit."

"Higher civilization indeed," Lex countered.

"Kal-El, what's going on?" She asked, ignoring Lex and talking to him in Kryptonian.

"He knows."

"You think?"

Clark glared at his cousin. "Kara, he knows everything. He knows about the other one...don't say his name. Just go with me on this."

"He can't," she insisted, her eyes going wide.

"He had the farm bugged and he had you and me and Chloe bugged. He's known that I was pregnant as long as I have. Now he wants to keep me here."

"And you agreed to the nifty jewelry because?"

"He has everything, big cousin. He took the ISIS records."

"Bitch!"

"It's more complicated than that. He has the ISIS records. He knows about the other one. He has everything on Chloe and 33.1. If I don't stay, he's going to turn the four of us-including Kon-El-over to the government. Kon's too little. He'd never survive a lab."

"Like he's not in one here," she snorted.

"Not exactly. I'm allowed to see him here, at least, and as long as I stay, Lex promised not to touch you or the other one."

She glared at Lex and switched to English deliberately. "Like he's not full of crap."

"That is sometimes true, but I gave Clark my word. I have leverage so long as I protect your identities. It's not smart for me to give away such an advantage out of spite. You, Miss Kent, are free to go."

Clark nodded. "Kara," he said, still in Kryptonian. "I need you to listen to me. I have to stay."

"Yeah right. Let me get the League. We'll spring you in about five seconds."

"No," he said, stepping forward and touching her cheek. "Kara, I need you to take the last member of the Council-"

She rolled her eyes at that. "Kal, come on."

"I need you to take him to the Manhunter right after you leave. I don't trust the deal either. I need to know that the two of you are going to stay safe, alright?"

"Kal, I promised Aunt Lara. I'm supposed to keep you safe."

He smiled sadly for her. "And you asked me to be in charge of the Council, right? You asked me to take care of the rest of you. Well, I'm doing it. Lex isn't going to touch me until Kon's weaned and we all know it. But I need you to take care of the little boy, the one who's not able to keep himself safe."

"But you're my baby cousins," Kara replied, her voice frantic.

"And I'm the oldest one, now," he reminded, stroking her hair. "Go get him, Kara, please."

"Are you done now?" Lex asked. "I find it rude that you conducted everything in Kryptonian."

"We're done," Clark answered him. "Kara, please, you promised. Just tell Chloe and...I don't know. I have to take care of Kon."

She nodded and glared at Lex. He knew the look. If there wasn't a stockpile of Kryptonite all around her, Lex would have been ash. "I'm not leaving them here for long." She stepped forward and Lex held up one hand to his guards to allow it. After all, Kara was just one ordinary girl right then. "Enjoy it while you can. You didn't want to piss me off."

Clark smiled at his cousin. They learned so fast.

"I think, Kara, that you'll find I hold all the cards. So run along now and plot with the League. Ollie's got a few SEC woes right now. I think it will take you some time."

Kara shook her head. "Just wait until Chloe and Aunt Martha get their hands on you, Lex. Kal, I promise. I'll do what you ask but I'll be back soon."

Clark frowned. "Kara, just go, okay?"

She nodded and reached out to squeeze his hand. "It's going to be okay, soon, little cousin." She finished and then walked, a little unsteadily, out of the house and zipped to what Clark hoped was New Mexico.

"Happy now. I let you see your cousin."

"Ecstatic."

"Then you're going to love me more, Joseph's hungry, and that means you get to see him. So follow me."


	52. Chapter 53

53

Even though he'd loathed it in the beginning or, at least, been horribly embarrassed by it, Clark was glad now that he had to breast feed Kon. If he weren't necessary to keep Kon alive, he had no doubt that he'd have been locked up in Scion by now. AS it stood now, he was allowed to see his son, to hold him.

Just not alone.

Clark held Kon closely to him and tried very hard to ignore the fact that Lex was watching him.

"Shh, buddy," he cooed, staring into inhumanly bright eyes. "It's going to be alright, I promise."

Kon blinked back at him and the skeptical look was so very Chloe it made Clark laugh.

"No, really. You have to believe me," he replied, kissing his son's head. "I promise."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Lex replied.

"I can keep this one. Connor's not growing up here. You aren't going to have him, Lex."

Lex yawned. "And this back and forth will grow tiresome over the next few months, Clark. Let's not argue."

"Well, I don't think we're going to enjoy each other's company, either," Clark snapped.

Lex stared down at him and Clark immediately felt self-conscious. "I'm enjoying myself. I have to say that all those years, I suspected you had abilities. After everything with Fine, I certainly thought that you could be from the same planet. But I never thought you weren't actually male."

Clark glared at him and wished he could give a flash of heat vision. "I am male. The egg was Lana's."

Lex smirked down at where Kon was still nursing. "And the womb and milk are yours. What does that make you?"

"Genetically engineered for any contingency," he snapped. "I'm not sitting here and letting you dig at me like this. I mean, what does it prove?"

"I'm not sure. I just find it a fascinating duality. You're clearly the most powerful being on the planet, probably moreso than even Kara, and yet you can do something so classically feminine."

"If you're implying girls are weak, you haven't been threatened enough by Lois or my cousin," he replied. "Go on. Stare and laugh and be all smug about it. Kara already beat you to it."

Lex shrugged. "I find it fascinating, is all."

Clark glared back at him. "You find it humiliating, and it is. I know that. Still, even though I wish more than anything Kon was biologically Chloe's, you have to admit that I gave Lana something you couldn't."

"And since I didn't have to go through the eight months of fear and pain and then six months of nursing, I think I'll keep the trade off."

"I guess not," Clark replied, pulling Kon away and readjusting the hem of his t-shirt. "It's not something I'd recommend and it's not something I ever want to go through again. He was worth it, and, never mind. I don't even know why I'm talking to you."

Lex stood up and held his arms out. "I'm the only one here for you to talk to who can answer. Kon's exceptional, but he doesn't speak anything yet, am I correct?"

"No, he doesn't," Clark said, resisting. "I don't want to."

"Wet nurses aren't fathers."

Clark narrowed his eyes. "You are so lucky that I don't have my heat vision right now."

"No," Lex replied taking Kon into his arms. "I plan, Clark. I plan for dozens of contingencies and that's why I've won."

"It's been less than twenty four hours, Lex, and Kara already did a number on your front door. You haven't won anything yet."

"Be careful with him!" Clark shouted, even as a bunch of nameless lab coats sat him down on his sterile table.

"Clark, they're professionals and not butchers. Don't be so melodramatic," Lex chided as one of the nurses started to weight Kon. Lex read the numbers and shook his head. "He's six months?"

"You know he is."

"He's very small, weight wise."

"I've been feeding him. Believe me. I've even tried to integrate baby food with the nursing. He eats about six times a day."

"Did you consider that he might be so hungry because the milk isn't enough?"

"And I thought I was only here because I was the only one keeping him alive."

"Clark," Dr. Russell said, pressing a small stethoscope to Kon's chest. His son giggled and reached out for the strand. "He's only half-Kryptonian. I thought you understood that much."

Clark glowered at the doctor who had just entered. "I thought you were trustworthy."

Dr. Russell had the decency to flinch. "I am. It's not my fault, Clark. I wanted to help my son. Mr. Luthor had an offer-"

"And you took it. That's being complicit with all of this," Clark shouted and this time Kon flinched and started crying.

The lights flickered overhead and several of the staff started making notes.

Clark hated that. It made the zoo feeling that much more real. If Kon sneezed, one of them would probably write a dissertation on it. "Kon, buddy," he said softly. "Daddy wasn't yelling at you."

"Just at everyone else and you wondered why I took away your powers," Lex drolled.

Just then one of the nurses pulled out a needle and stuck it into Clark's arm. He hissed. "I hate that."

"Then you're going to like the sample taking moderately more," Lex replied.

"What kind?" Clark asked, blushing. He'd had every sample imaginable already at ISIS and he really didn't need to give some kinds again. Kon proved that he could do a lot of things, didn't he?

"Milk. We'll try to duplicate the protein components, but I doubt we can find a human equivalent. We'll just need for you to pump some. I could, perhaps, try something more forced with needles, but I am not trying to be cruel."

Clark eyed his bracelet. "No, we wouldn't want that."

Dr. Russell pulled out a second syringe and positioned it near Kon's arm. "If someone would hold him still."

"Please don't. I don't want Kon to feel that."

"All infants get check-ups, Clark," Lex intoned.

"And this is the first of one a day, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's not painful. You've had blood draws by now and you know that it's not exceptionally painful."

"No, but I didn't want him to feel that," he said, wincing when the needle was inserted under his son's skin. Connor cried again and this time a light bulb shattered.

Lex's eyes lit up. He'd just found out this Porsche could do 150 on the straight away. "Remarkable. He's far too young for an fMRI, but he's not too far off for an EEG. He's going to be a fascinating neuroanatomy subject. And you said the telekinesis is a human ability?"

"I never said anything to you. You bugged my home and my family," Clark corrected, turning his head as several vials were filled by Connor's blood.

"Semantics," Lex replied.

"It's true, then. You know you heard it. That's a human ability. I have no idea why it is or how being part me set it off. But Kryptonians aren't psychics and we're never going to be."

"And harnessing that one..."

"He's not a lab rat," Clark snapped, pulling back his own arm and rolling down the sleeve of his shirt.

"I never said that, but if one wants to learn control, then it might be important to first understand exactly how such abilities work," Lex countered, picking Kon back up and cradling him. Lex was good at that. Kon, much to Clark's satisfaction, only cried more when Lex held him, but the other man still knew how to do it, was still cradling Kon's head with overwhelming gentleness. "You have to admit there are limitations to your parents trite approach to merely hope for the best."

"It's frustrating, but it worked for me."

"And it's working so well for Kon," Dr. Russell corrected, stepping away from a side lab table. Clark had no idea what he could tell from a few blood tests and a centrifuge, but based on his frown, it couldn't have been anything good.

Clark felt his heart speed up. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing that can't be fixed, but, Clark, he's deficient on a lot of basic vitamins and compounds-folic acid, potassium, niacin, to name a few. He's not undernourished, exactly, but he's only in the 50th percentile for weight but the 90th for height."

Lex eyed Clark. "Naturally. Of course he's tall."

"But he's not getting everything from the milk you produce, either. I can't even begin to guess, even now, at some of the compounds in his blood. I don't doubt that whatever Kryptonian things he needs, he's getting. The human end is being malnourished."

Clark gulped and reached out to stroke Kon, pulling back his hand in frustration when one of Lex's guards surged forward on him. "I didn't know."

"Because you probably wouldn't even take him to one of Oliver's doctors," Lex surmised. "There are extremes on either end. Denying your son any medical care was wrong, Clark. What do you suggest?" He asked, turning to Dr. Russell.

"He's going to need to start on cow's milk as well. I'm going to prescribe daily vitamins and supplements. Also, he's behind on his vaccines."

"He doesn't need those. That's an excuse to jab him more with needles."

"Clark, son-"

"Don't even start with me. We're not going to pretend to be friends," Clark spat.

"Fine then, Clark," Dr. Russell began again. "You assume that he's resilient because he's partially yours and that may be a valid assumption in time, but he's still not invulnerable the way you and Kara are. He may be susceptible to human germs, perhaps moreso considering he comes from a family with no resilience to them at all. If this were a completely human infant coming to me and I knew he hadn't had his shots and he was this deficient...it's standard protocol."

"And he'll be on it starting today," Lex replied. "I don't deal in guesses and I'm going to make sure Joseph is taking care of."

Clark looked back at Kon who was so quiet against Lex's chest. He'd already managed to cry himself out in the argument. It didn't surprise Clark. Kon was reeling from the last day just like he was and he was coping by being so withdrawn. No, Luthor Mansion was not good for him. Still, Lex's concerns mirrored not only Lana's but Chloe's as well. He'd just assumed Kon was okay, and now he knew he wasn't. Now he was sicker than he should have been because Clark had made all these assumptions about his health that weren't true.

Did that mean that Lex could be a better father?

God, never.

"Clark?" Lex called.

"Yeah?"

"We're leaving. I thought you'd be happy to be out of the lab."

"I am," he answered, following Lex out to the elevator.

"Very well. You won't even need to come back until next week. Kon, of course, will be getting his vaccinations tomorrow."

"And I can't come?"

"Why would you be there?" Lex replied, cradling Kon closer. Clark could read that implication clearly:

You're not his father.

"Buddy, I am so sorry. I didn't know. I know, I'm supposed to be the best daddy ever. I just thought that, chubby cheeks aside, you were a little small. I didn't know that I was underfeeding. Are you mad at me?"

Kon, who was still just resting in his arms, quirked his head at him. It wasn't a definitive answer either way.

"I'm so sorry, Kon. I just don't know anything," he said, pulling up the hem of his shirt. He only got to see Kon when his son was hungry. God, if Lex did find a way to synthesize Kryptonian proteins in a lab, he'd never see Kon at all.

Kon started to suckle slowly as Clark continued with his recriminations.

"I mean, I just assumed I could hide you from Lex and I was so wrong. I thought I could trust Lana's doctors and that didn't happen either. I'm not ready to be a father at all." He leaned down and kissed the top of his son's head. "At least you can get the nutrients you need, buddy. That's a good thing, right?"

"Clark?"

Clark looked up from Kon and gulped. He hadn't heard that voice in eight months and it was just as full of dampened revulsion as he remembered. "Lana? How did you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Escape from everything you'd set up for me? Lex found me and he had me flown back to the mansion yesterday. Oliver's security isn't as good as the Black Canary, not by a long shot."

Clark nodded and shifted uncomfortably under Lana's gaze. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to see my son. I came to see Joseph."

"It's Connor for one thing and I thought I'd get this much time alone with him. Lex is almost always here when I feed him and then I'm locked in my room and Lex and the nannies have all the time with him. I should have known."

Lana who was staring very hard at the floor by Clark's boots, shook her head. "Lex said I could see him. I didn't know...I had no idea that-"

"I'd be nursing. There are bottles. I have a pump, since Lex wants to start an analysis of the milk," he replied and Kon pulled his head away then. Clark resettled his shirt and brought Kon to his chest, patting his son on the back and waiting patiently for him to let out a tiny burp. "I guess now that you're back, he'll just let me, um, express and then you can feed him."

"I don't know if that's true," she replied. "I don't know what I'm doing here, exactly. I'm going to be his mother, but there are things that nannies do."

"I bet Lillian said things like that, too," he replied. "You know, I'm not actively doing anything alien right now. You could look me in the face, Lana. It's considered the polite thing to do."

She nodded and looked up at him. "You look better."

"Yeah, there's a world of difference between being six months pregnant and then being six months post delivery."

"No, I meant that if I didn't know...I'd never guess it. You look just like you did when I-"

"Had sex with me or still thought you loved me?" He replied harshly.

"I did love you and then you exiled me to lock and key. What kind of a relationship is that?"

"What kind of relationship is it when you abduct me and try to poison me with a radioactive rock."

"It didn't hurt you."

"That's what you think. We have no idea what Blue Kryptonite does. We know Dax-Ur used it, but it could be very dangerous. Do you even care?"

Lana glared back at him and it was amazing how such an expression could make even her face ugly. "I don't have to rehash this ever, Clark. You made your mistakes and now you're not even a factor. Lex told me everything. In a few months, Kon won't even remember that you exist."

"Yes he will."

"I doubt it," she replied. "Now, can I hold him?"

"That's not really a request, is it?"

"No, it's not. Give me my son."

He shook his head and handed Connor over to her. "Everyone says it this way, but I'm the one who carried him and died having him. I think that makes me the parent more than either of you would ever be."

She kept glaring at him. "I can't help that I'm sterile."

Clark's eyes widened. "I didn't say that."

"Lex told me. I suspected, since Dax-Ur clearly had a son by a woman. It's not something Kryptonian men normally do, is it?"

"No, it's not. It's a contingency for if the mother can't carry the baby. That's it."

"Well, then, Joseph's my only shot for a child. Unless I can persuade Lex to keep you around for if he ever wants a little brother or sister."

Clark fought back the nausea that came with being thought of as the Luthor brood mare. "God."

"I could think about it," she replied and then she actually looked at Kon. In her shock, her arms faltered and Kon almost fell. For the first time in his life, adrenaline actually was the reason Clark moved impossibly fast. Reaching out, he scooped his son back up, just as he slipped out of Lana's grasp.

Cradling Kon to him, Clark cooed at his son, "Shh, it's alright."

Kon was scared. If his hearing worked right, Clark knew he'd be hearing the hammering of his son's heart. The little mobile (clowns, it was always clowns in his nursery) started to spin wildly and Lana shrank back.

"God, what's wrong with him?"

Clark sat back down in the rocker and let the motion soothe his son. "What do you mean?"

"His eyes...god, it's just like those things from the ship."

If he'd had heat vision, Clark would have given her eyes to shrink back from. "People from the ship. Zod's soldiers were Kryptonian like we are. We're not things, Lana."

"But have you seen him?"

Clark smiled down at Kon, whose eyes were shiny from freshly shed tears. Those were his son's eyes, Irish eyes, a gleam that complimented his mother's bracelet just as the actual Nulec's had. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"

"Is he always going to look like that?" And how had he never noticed how shrill she could be before.

"Would it matter? You said you were his mother?" He challenged, staring back at her.

"I did...I am , but, god, how can you hide something like that?"

"He has a pair of sunglasses, but he only wears them out. Chloe and Gabe think he looks very handsome."

"Gabe knows?"

"He's his grandfather. Of course, he knows."

"Chloe's not his mother," Lana replied, coolly.

"Chloe thinks Kon's beautiful. She saved his life and she's been taking care of the 3 AM feedings and the indigestion and the buzzing in his ears and everything for half a year. She's more his mother than you are."

"I didn't say Kon wasn't cute. If you look past that one deformity-"

Clark's blood froze. "He's not deformed."

"You did see his eyes? How can you be so complacent about this?"

"It's who he is, Lana. It's who we are. For your information both Kara and J'onn promised me that his eyes will be like a human's in about six months. Jax's eyes are normal and my eyes started out like his. It's a quirk but it's not permanent."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"If he had stayed this way, would it matter?"

"Maybe," she admitted.

Clark held Kon closer to him. "You saw me when you came in?"

"It was blatant, Clark," she replied, her tone clipped.

"That's us. I nurse. I'm not proud of it. I pretty much hate it, but it's me. Kon just moved that mobile because he got so nervous. His eyes don't look like anyone else in the world's. This is the family you left and it's at least part traveler."

"I didn't leave."

"You left the minute you started sleeping with him. Everything else was a formality," he hissed. "So, you're back and even if you get rid of me, even if I get locked away in Scion, it will still be an alien family. Kon's never going to change, and, honestly, I don't think Lex is going to keep the blue K on him for long. The powers are what has him the most interested."

"I don't know if he'd-"

"He is going to, Lana. So take a good look at us. I don't know why it surprises you at all. You knew who you were sleeping with. Why are you so shocked by a traveler son?"

"Because I didn't think it would work out like this!"

"It did," he replied. "You have to do better. I told you that before and I mean, now , Lana. Right now you have to try. I don't know what's going to happen to me or if the League can get us out of this, but one day you might be his only parent. How is he supposed to grow up if his mother won't even look at him?"

"I thought Chloe was."

"She is, but she's not here and you keeping saying you want the job," he replied, stroking Kon's hair. "Prove it," he said, standing up and walking toward her. "Hold him."

Lana looked at him first, her eyes stopping a little over the slight swell of his chest, and then glancing down at Kon's preternatural gaze. She shuddered and backed up a few steps.

"I can't."

"Then get out. I don't get much time with him and I have no use for you anymore."

Kon squirmed in his grasp and let out a little moan. Besides Lana, one of the pretentious clown dolls cracked, causing her to scurry out the door.

Clark smiled despite everything and kissed Kon's cheek. "You tell her, buddy."


	53. Chapter 54

54

He held Kon for a long time after Lana left, staring into his son's beautiful, incandescent eyes. They're the most gorgeous part of his son, something that everyone who knows, always comments on. Gabe calls them Irish eyes. Perry just gave the cheekiest of smiles replacing Kon's sunglasses, mixed with an appreciative whistle. Chloe, on her own, commented about how well they highlighted the stone in her marriage bracelet, as if the color of the stone, the ciel, had been chosen to reflect the child who was coming.

Maybe it had.

Who knew sometimes what his ancestors had done.

Even Lex had been struck by Kon. That was the thing about Lex Luthor. He was enthralled by everything extraterrestrial, so appreciative of Kon's powers already. No, Lex had chosen a son, stolen one, who was extraordinary, even down to his appearance.

The only person who didn't love Kon on sight was Lana. Clark, after all this time, wanted to be surprised by this, wanted to believe it could get better. If Kon was doomed to be a Luthor, he'd need a mother. He'd need someone to love him and to protect him when Clark was locked away in Scion. Lana and Clark might not care for each other any longer, but she was supposed to be able to love Kon. He was hers. Not the way he was Chloe's, god no. But Clark had felt everything from the second he'd heard Kon's heartbeat and it had increased ten fold the first time he'd held his son. There were instincts and need.

Shouldn't natural parents always feel it?

His mother had. She'd found a child from the farthest corner of the universe and known instantly that he was hers. How could Lana not feel that for someone of her own blood?

Kon was quiet and subdued. He was always quiet now and Clark hated it. Kon was a mini-Kara, giggly and mischievous. He wasn't listless like this. He wasn't supposed to be. Being a Luthor would kill him.

"Shh, buddy, it's okay," Clark said, rocking him and stroking his back. "I love you very much, more than anyone else in the whole universe, even mommy. I...you have to remember that. Even if you're little, you have to remember that your real parents love you very, very much."

Kon blinked back at him.

Clark wondered if Lara had done this once, if she'd held him close to her on a dying planet and promised he'd started life loved. He loved Lara. She was not Martha Kent, could never replace his mom, but he loved her still, was grateful that she'd saved him. But he'd forgotten her. He'd said her name and then forgotten she'd ever existed, aside from the gleam of a bracelet and the flash of blonde hair in a dream.

Would Kon be like that?

" Te eu iubesc , Kon. You have to remember that, okay?" He was pleading with a six month old.

Kon, as smart as he was, was still just a baby. He blinked again and then clung tighter to Clark's t-shirt. "I know. It's scary, buddy, but you're very, very brave." He finished, leaning down to kiss the top of Kon's head.

"Clark?"

Clark sat up and glared back at Lex, wishing again he could make his eyes flash crimson. "Have you come for the second act of the show, Lex?"

Lex was quiet, not usually his triumphant self. "No, I haven't. I was coming to take you back to your room."

"Because I can't be around Kon too much, because we're going to phase me out."

Lex nodded. "Yes. I thought that it would be easier to do, that Lana would take to motherhood more than she has."

Clark remembered an afternoon long ago in the mansion. He'd found Lana in Lex's office, a look of utter desolation on her face. He assumed it had been cancer, some horrible diagnosis, not a baby. She hadn't wanted a human child. How could she ever want an alien one?

"I know the feeling. You have the feeds?" He said, clenching Kon tighter as Lex approached.

"Yes."

"Did you listen to all of them? Was it fun for you? Was it the best soap opera you ever heard?"

"I never watched anything like that before," Lex deadpanned, holding out his arms. "You've had two hours with him. It doesn't take that long to feed."

"It's not enough time at all. What if I didn't want to hand him over?"

"It's an exercise in futility. I have guards. You don't need more than a bit of taser now. Please don't do this."

"I hate you," Clark replied, handing Kon over, stroking one soft cheek.

"I know," Lex replied and again his tone was mournful and not triumphant. Kon, who had almost lulled back to sleep, stirred and looked between him and Lex. His eyes started to water and he whimpered.

"Shh, buddy, it's okay. Uncle Lex won't hurt you," Clark said and he wasn't lying. Lex had a vested interest now. Oh, Kon would be so very well cared for.

"I'm not that bad. I don't twirl a mustache and kill infants," Lex replied, smiling down at Kon and slipping him deftly back into his crib. "Clark, I did hear a lot of it."

"You think?"

"You and Joseph-"

"Connor," Clark growled.

"Are extraordinary. It will take Lana time to adjust to it."

"She can't, Lex. You can give her a month or a decade and she won't be Kon's mother. Do you know what that even means?"

Lex's eyes grew cold and he stiffened. "I understand a lot of things, Clark, and you're wrong. She's not like that."

"She loved you once and tried to kill you. She poisoned Kon and me with meteor rock. Whatever you've planned? It's not going to work the way you think."

"Did it work out the way you thought?" Lex countered.

"No. It didn't. Lex?" He asked as they walked to the edge of the nursery.

"Yes?"

"You are taking Kon's bracelet off of him, aren't you? He's going to get to keep his powers, isn't he?"

"I can't let you off your leash, Clark."

"I didn't ask that, but half the reason you want Kon, besides the fact that he's Lana's, is the fact that he's Kryptonian. You want him to learn to use his powers the way Kara and I have mastered ours."

"Not flight, I've heard."

"Not entirely," he hedged, stopping in the threshold and eying his son. Little glimpses now and all that silence. The distance was killing him.

"Yes, Clark. I'm going to take the band off of him in a few days. His hearing and ability to levitate are going to be investigated and before you fume, they're not invasive tests. The most invasive thing I've set up for him are supplementary vitamin shots. He needs them."

"I know. Lex, I didn't know about the human stuff. How was I supposed to know? There's no one to tell me anything. There's no human doctor who really understands what's happening, even at ISIS." And why was he even coming undone like this. It was Lex Luthor, Lionel's son in the worst sense, next to him. It was not his friend.

Lex nodded and his tone was actually considerate. "You're not a bad mother, Clark."

"Bastard."

"It was an open shot. I took it," he conceded as he pushed Clark out the door and shut it. "But I mean the sentiment. You managed to get very far without any information at all and without much precedent. You should be commended."

"Thanks, glad to be able to prepare your son for you."

"Clark, I am going to take care of him. I've always wanted a son."

"Enough to fake and to steal one."

"Yes, fake ," Lex echoed and there was something there that Clark couldn't place. "Get some rest, Clark. I'll be expecting you and Joseph both for dinner."

"I, uh, don't feed at the table."

Lex rolled his eyes. "As fascinating a show as that is, I assume Joseph can spend an hour in a high chair with a bottle. Now, get ready."

Being Lex's captive was an odd experience, mainly because his cell was nicer than most five star hotels. The accommodations, if one ignored the locked doors and the barred windows, were pleasant and the clothes afforded him were more expensive than anything he could have afforded on his own. Clark didn't like the new wardrobe of khakis and button downs, but he was glad so far he wasn't relegated to scion with nothing more than scrubs.

Pulling on the collar of his crimson shirt, Clark let himself be lead by several of Lex's men into the dining room. He blinked when he realized the table was set for more than just him, Lex, Kon, and Lana. Lana was already sitting at the table, as was Lex. Clark eyed them nervously.

"Clark, feel free to take a seat," Lex replied.

Lana glared at him but said nothing as he took the place closest to the set up high chair.

"I thought Kon was coming."

"He is. One of the staff is bringing him along," Lex said, nodding his approval when an older woman-and Clark wondered if he'd hired nannies already-ushered Kon in and set him gently in his chair. She said nothing as she slid the tray in place and left the room quickly after.

Kon spotted Clark and grinned, babbling again in whatever baby language he'd come up with, "Bla-na-la-ni!"

He grinned and kissed the tip of his son's nose. "I love you too."

"Is it Kryptonian?"

Clark blushed. "No, it's all Kon. He doesn't speak yet."

Lex frowned, a little disappointed. "Has Kara tried teaching him?"

"A lot, actually. About Kara," he started.

"Funny, she's not anywhere in Smallville. I've noticed that Mary Donovan's out of Santa Fe. Do you not trust my word?" Lex asked, picking up a spoon for the soup.

Clark glared and held up his wrist. "I can't imagine why I'd feel that way."

"I am a businessman, Clark. Your end of the contract has been honored. My word was to leave the rest of your, ahem, Council alone."

Clark looked down at his plate. He hated that Lex knew everything about him, had been privy to a year of misery and secrets that weren't his to know. "Kara's smart. She knows enough to take care of herself."

Lex nodded. "Right then."

Clark sighed and picked up the bottle already set out for Kon. "You know I wouldn't leave anyway."

"Of course," Lex replied, taking a sip of his wine.

"Lex," Lana finally said, staring back at him. "Why is he here?"

"Because we're having a nice dinner," he replied. "One with quests."

"Scientists?" Clark spat.

Lex sighed. "No, I'm actually trying to be accommodating, Clark." With that, there was a knock on the dining room doors and Lex smiled. "Perfect."

The doors opened and Clark felt immediate relief at the two people who entered. Standing up, he rushed across the room and groaned when he remembered he didn't have his speed anymore. "Chloe!" Chloe wrapped her arms around him and he relaxed into her embrace, letting himself bury his nose in her hair. "I missed you."

A second pair of arms were around him and he felt his mom stroke at his hair. "Baby."

He broke apart enough to look into her eyes. "You snuck in here?"

"No," Chloe replied, glaring at Lex who was wearing an amused smile. "We were invited."

Clark frowned and looked back at the other man. "Are you serious?"

"Far be it from me to deny you some visitors. There's no harm in it."

Clark nodded. "I'm not saying thank you or anything."

Lana, for her part, was livid. "I can't believe you asked Chloe here."

Chloe, whose hand was clutching his tightly, smiled back at Lana. "Me neither, but I'm glad to see my family." She followed him back toward his place at the table but Lex clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"No, you don't get to sit next to Joseph. That was not part of the deal."

"Connor," Chloe replied, coming to stand behind his chair and tickling one chubby cheek. Kon giggled and reached out for her fingers.

"Lex!" Lana called. "I won't stay here if she's near my son."

"Chloe, Martha, do you want to stay?" He asked.

Chloe glowered but started to walk over to the far side of the table.

Kon, watching Chloe's retreat, started to whimper. Clark noticed a few of the lights in the chandelier above his head flickering. He struggled in his high chair and kept reaching out for her.

"Mama!"

Everything was silent after that one word.

Chloe's eyes were wide and a huge smile was spreading across her face. It was almost as broad as his mother's. Lex stared on, equal parts intrigued and hungry, and Lana was a color of red, Clark didn't know humans could be. Clark scooped Kon up and out of his highchair. "What was that buddy? Can you do it again for me?"

Kon frowned and reached out again for Chloe, squirming in Clark's grasp. "Mama!"

Chloe strode back across the room and grabbed their son. " A stor , mommy's here."

Kon giggled for what must have been the first time in days. "Mama!"

"I didn't know he was talking," his mother said, the Luthor couple across from them forgotten.

"He wasn't," Clark offered, smiling down at where Kon was now babbling, occasionally saying "momma" and grabbing at Chloe's golden hair. "He's just very smart."

"Enough!" Lana shouted, slamming down her spoon. The loud noise echoed in the dining room and Kon jumped. Kon blinked back at her and started to cry, wailing loudly. One of the crystal wine glasses in front of Lana exploded. Lana startled back and then stood up. "Lex, I don't care if you are humoring Clark. You shouldn't be humoring him at all. The baby gets weaned and he's gone, and if you want to keep me happy, you won't let Chloe anywhere near my child."

With that, she stomped out the door.

"Well," Lex drawled. "That went well."

"How did you expect it to go?" Clark asked, trying to quiet his son.

"I didn't expect exploded dinnerware and quite the explosion. Chloe, Martha, you can stay for dinner and I see no reason why you can't continue to visit Clark under appropriate supervision."

"Making sure we don't sneak in nail files?" Chloe countered.

"Something like that. Feel free to finish eating. After all, I owe you a debt, Sullivan. I didn't know my son could talk."

" Mine's a chatterbox," she replied, cradling Kon in her lap at the table. "And now that he can talk. I can't wait to teach him all sorts of colorful things to say about you."


	54. Chapter 55

55

Clark made it through dinner by concentrating solely on his family. Lex said nothing and he could feel the scrutiny, the quiet study. Clark was growing used to it. ISIS had been like this and, when the time came, so would Scion. Here was the alien family, the Last Son of a race that no longer existed, and a child who never should have been. Two unique beings, ready for study. He'd had a life. God, he was just twenty-two, but he'd had a chance to be normal, to have a life and a family, to fall in love.

What would this life do to Kon?

Would he get to some point where he didn't even care about being poked and prodded? Would he be allowed to have a life beyond Lex's experiments? Clark couldn't even imagine it. Tutors? Hiding in plain sight in Excelsior? What in the world would become of him?

Clark sighed and smiled as Chloe fed Kon a serving of apple sauce with a bright red spoon. "Don't make me make the airplane noises, Connor. Just try it?"

Kon shook his head and pinched his lips together. He simply didn't like human food as much as what Clark gave him.

" A stor , you need to eat so you can get big and strong." Kon shook his head and pointed at his bottle. Chloe sighed and picked him up out of his high chair, placing the nipple against his lips. "One day, baby, you're going to have to eat people food."

Lex snickered at that. "I've heard you bargain that way with Shelby when he stole steak from your table, Clark."

He blushed and started to respond but his mother cut him off. "My son and my grandson are not pets."

"Oh, I'd never imagine that, Martha," Lex quipped, sipping his scotch. "I just found a slight parallel."

His mother's glare intensified and she slammed her silverware onto the table. "I want my children out of here, Lex. Do you think I can't do it? Do you think I wouldn't go above your head?"

Lex smiled and Clark hated him, hated how confident he was, how he had plans on plans and all Clark had were straws. "Who would you go to, Martha? Clark's not legally yours and if you told anyone what's happened to both him and Joseph, well they'd be rushing to relieve me of my possessions."

"They're not possessions," she groused.

"What about my family?" Chloe prodded, her tone hard. "My uncle-"

"Is military. What does the military do with aliens, sorry, intergalactic travelers ?" He shook his head. "You don't have anything."

"The League-"

"I have everything. I explained it to Clark. If I release my records, the Department of Domestic Security will take all of them and I can imagine the charges for the two of you."

"You think you're clever, don't you?" His mom snapped. "You think you're smarter than we are?"

"I think I proved it."

She nodded. "You think you know so much. You bugged our home and now you believe that all the League's weaknesses and secrets are yours." She shook her head. "I've been taking care of Clark for twenty years. I've faced down reporters from The Inquisitor and your father at his worst and threats from 28 galaxies over. I am unimpressed."

"You shouldn't be."

His mother smiled. It was something cold, something very Metropolitan of her. "With Lillian's son, I'd always be underwhelmed."

Lex stilled. "I invited you and Chloe here because I have nothing to gain from making Clark completely miserable. I have him where I want him. I didn't know Lana was going to be so upset about Chloe's involvement, but if you treat me politely, I see no reason why you can't continue to come at the very least, Martha. I've always respected you."

She shook her head. "No, you don't, not now, or you wouldn't have backed me into a corner."

Lex considered her and set his glass down. "Do you want to discuss this at length in my office."

"Definitely."

Lex looked across the table, back to him and to where Chloe was rocking Kon. "I'll have the guards escort you to the nursery. Chloe, I think you should take your time with him. Lana's not going to let you visit ever again."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "So, Lana has you on a short leash. Nice to see nothing's changed since your marriage, Lex."

"Keep pushing, Sullivan," he replied, standing up, "Martha, are you coming?"

"You bet I am."

The door to the nursery was shut but on the other side there were at least five of Lex's security. Clark had no doubt the nursery was bugged in some way as well. There wasn't even the illusion of the privacy he'd never have again. Chloe was sitting on the sofa in the corner, their sleeping son, cuddled close to her chest. He was sitting beside her, his right arm wrapped around her shoulders, his thick metal bracelet resting against her.

"I love you," he said, wondering if Lex would watch this one day and laugh.

Chloe nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I love both of you. We're trying Clark."

"You can't talk here, Chlo. It's not secure."

"I know, but he knows there's a League. He knows enough for the IRS to be conveniently auditing Queen Industries right now."

"Bastard."

"He learned from the best," she replied. "We're going to figure this out. You know me and your mom and Kara. We're not going to leave either of you here, no matter what. Do you understand that?"

"Chlo, I know, but sometimes-"

She shook her head. "I always find a way. They thought you were going to die."

"I did, technically."

"And I brought you back. I'm going to bring you both back this time too, I promise."

He nodded and leaned against her, feeling the warmth of her body, reveling in her scent. He wished for so many things. He wished that they were on the farm, that they were curled up on their bed. He wished that Lex had never found anything on them, that he had learned to say no to Lana, that he hadn't been so complacent and stupid about talking about his true nature in a building Lex owned.

"I know. I miss you."

"Me too. It's so angst free without you."

"Is not."

"Well, there's less agonized whining about breast feeding."

He smiled sadly and stroked at Kon's dark, sleek hair. "It's why I get to stay. I'm never complaining about it again." Kon, who'd been awakened by the soft touch of his fingers, awoke and smiled up at him. "Buddy, I thought we were sleeping for mommy."

Kon giggled. "Mama!"

"Yeah," Clark replied, smiling. "You're so smart, aren't you?"

Kon giggled louder and spoke again, "Mama!"

Chloe laughed and kissed his forehead. "The look on Lana's face was priceless. Kara's going to love that story for the rest of her life."

"I know," he replied.

Chloe smirked and stared down at Kon. " A stor , do you want to try more words? Can you say 'daddy?'"

Kon frowned. "Mama!"

"Well, technically..." Chloe trailed off.

"Not funny."

She snickered. "After fourteen months, it still is pretty funny."

"Maybe a little," he huffed, letting her tease him. He didn't mind anymore. It was what it was and it gave him Kon, had led him to her. Maybe he should thank his crazy forebearers for the whole mess.

"Come on, a stor , you can do new ones. How about 'squirrel?'"

Kon giggled and clapped but didn't speak.

"Oh Cousin Kara's been talking to you a lot hasn't she, buddy?"

Kon quirked his head at Clark and studied him for a while, his gaze intense. "Kang-gru."

"Huh?"

Chloe grinned. "What was that, a stor ?" She replied, picking Kon up and bouncing him a little on her hip. "What'd you say?"

"Kang-gru!"

She laughed. "That's pretty close. Daddy is a kangaroo, isn't he?"

"Ru!"

"Chlo, now you're encouraging him."

She smirked. "I think Kara's been teaching him a lot more than just Kryptonian."

Clark shook his head and picked up his son, who was reaching for him. "Say 'da-da,' I know you can do that."

Kon frowned and shook his head. "Kang-gru! Kang-gru!"

Clark sighed. "Alright, fine, you win. I'm the kangaroo."

"Kang-gru!" He shouted, giggling. Then, turning to look at Chloe he added, "Mama."

Chloe's smile was wider than he'd ever seen it. "You are so smart. You know your mommy and your kangaroo."

"Father," Clark corrected.

"Give it up, Clark," she replied, leaning down and kissing Kon's chubby cheek. "Mommy and Kangaroo love you very much, a stor and soon mommy, and grandma, and Cousin Kara are going to flatten Lex into pancakes."

"He's not going to get all that."

"It's the principle of the thing. If Martha wouldn't disapprove, I'd teach Kon all sorts of fun things to call Lex. As-"

"Hey!" Clark yelped. "If Kara can't teach him to curse in Kryptonian, you can't teach him to do it in English. It's about fair standards."

"Fine, maybe when you're older." She said, her voice tight. "When you're out of here and never have to come back because that bastard's in prison."

"Chlo!"

"It's not that bad a term."

Clark frowned. Technically, Kon's biological parents had never been married. God, he'd never even think of it with Lana. "Maybe. I...let's not talk about it. I just, maybe Kon will talk some more."

Their son, as if sensing his cue, erupted into a stream of babble that was pure Kon-speak, except for the occasional mention of a 'ru!'

Chloe sighed and kiss both of them, letting her chin come to rest a top Kon's head. "Mommy loves you very much, a stor ." She frowned. "How does Kara say it?"

"Huh?"

"The Kryptonian for 'I love you?' I can never remember."

"You want to know it?"

"It's part of who you are," she replied simply, and that warmed him. He wondered how it had ever taken him this long to see the difference between Chloe and Lana. Of course, if he'd done anything differently, Kon wouldn't be here and he'd never trade his son for anything.

Clark smiled and kissed her, letting the kiss linger as long as he could. He had no idea when he'd see her again.

If he would.

" Te eu iubesc ."

" Te eu iubesc ," she parroted, the words coming out horribly muddled and accented.

Kon shook his head and scrunched up his face in disapproval.

"What?"

"You didn't do it right, Chlo," he replied.

She shook her head and repeated it, holding Kon tightly to her. "No, I think I got it right."

One Week Later

Radio silence.

That was the term for it.

Lana's edicts meant that Chloe couldn't visit. Kara was not coming back. She'd promised him, he'd made her promise him, to hide and to keep Jax-Ur safe with her. Apparently, his mother must have said something severe to piss Lex off because even she hadn't been allowed back. Clark had faith in his friends and even more in Chloe. She'd never let him down in all their years together, not when it mattered.

Still, he didn't like the wait.

Routine was what he had now. He nursed when Kon needed it and spent the rest of his time relegated to his room. He'd sped read through the collection of Lex's library in the week. He'd done that out of spite. Lex wanted a floor show? He'd give him one. But he was to a point where there was nothing to occupy his time. He was bored of the monotony of television he watched, desperate for the rhythm of his son's heart, the gentle touch of his wife.

"God, I want to go home."

The door opened at 3:30 PM, like clockwork, and one of the many faceless members of Lex's security detail came for him. Clark eyed him and gritted his teeth. "Do you know what I could normally do to you?"

"Not today, freak," he replied. "Mr. Luthor's expecting you."

"God forbid I keep him waiting," Clark huffed, following him down the hall. The guard left him standing outside of the nursery. "They'll open the door when they're ready for you. If you try and do anything..."

"I've been here almost two weeks. I can fill in the threats for myself now."

"See that you keep that in mind," he answered before disappearing down the stairs.

Clark sighed and leaned against the door, wondering what Lex was up to. He no longer had enhanced hearing, but he strained his abilities as best he could and pressed his ear to the door:

"Lana, you have to hold him some time."

"I will."

"When? It's been a week and you won't hold him and you won't feed him. You say you want Clark off the property, but he's what's keeping Joseph nourished. He'll take the bottle from me sometimes, but not often. I thought he'd take it from you, since you're his mother, but if you won't hold him..."

"I will! I just...it will be easier when his eyes aren't so alien.

"It'll fade. He needs to start bonding with you now. You're adamant that Chloe and Clark not be around him and I agree with you, but I need you to be his mother, Lana. This is what you wanted. When you complained to me about Clark not understanding, about him cutting you out of Joseph's life and putting Chloe into it, this is what you were asking for or so I thought."

"I will, just later, Lex."

"I see. I'm taking the bracelet off today. I'm not going to poison him. I want his abilities intact."

"There's no proof the Kryptonite would hurt him."

"There's no proof that it won't either," he countered. "Are you going to be alright with that?"

"Will he be able to hurt me?"

"Clark swears he didn't get his strength until he was three. As far as the feeds read, Joseph can levitate and his hearing is preternaturally acute. That's all so far."

"You're taking it off either way. The asking's a formality."

Lex was silent before replying at long last. "Yes, it is, but I wanted to keep you abreast."

"While you make all the decisions."

Clark snorted. There was some irony. As if Lana hadn't made every decision for him for four months.

"I...Clark's supposed to be here to feed him. We'll continue this later," Lex remarked. "Tomorrow, I expect you to feed him his formula and to start going out with me and the nannies when we take him for a stroll of the grounds."

"I'll see."

"You will, Lana."

"I said I'd see," she snapped, pushing the door open and Clark barely had time to try and school himself back to a neutral, non-spying position. "Clark, he's all yours."

"Lana," Clark snapped, watching her retreat down the hall. He just didn't understand it, didn't understand how any mother could refuse her child. He'd spent five years, ever since his parents had told him he was adopted when he'd been eight, wondering if his mother hadn't loved him enough. He'd sat up a lot of nights wondering if they'd sent him away for being a freak. If he'd been too strong as a baby, too. If they hadn't wanted him.

Lara had wanted him desperately. He'd seen it. He knew.

But it still hadn't stopped the years of sorrow from believing he hadn't been good enough to love, at least not by his biological parents. But his mothers both loved him. He believed that the real Jor-El had loved him as well. His father had died for him.

Kon's biological mother didn't, and it wasn't even Kon's fault. Clark wasn't sure that Lana could love anyone save herself.

"Clark?"

He sighed and looked up at Lex. "I know, 'Get in here and we'll finish everything up.' 'Move it along. You're the nursemaid.' I've heard it a dozen times over."

Lex nodded and, as before, he wasn't gloating. There wasn't that bravado invading his demeanor. In fact, glancing at the circles under his eyes, Clark guessed that Lex was almost as exhausted as he was. "Just take care of him, please."

Clark entered into the room and slipped off the Oxford he wore. The embarrassment had worn off by now and, to a degree, so had the level of Lex's scrutiny. That was part of his life. Clark was extraordinary, but eventually even the bizarre became mundane if one saw it often enough. What he did for Kon, he'd done for months.

It just was.

Kon, however, didn't find Clark's visits routine even now. He beamed up at his father. "Kang-gru! Iubesc kang-gru!"

"Buddy, daddy missed you." Kon shook his head and babbled at him rapid fire. The annoyance in his tone was so perfectly Chloe that Clark laughed all while he settled Kon against his chest. "What?"

"Kang-gru!" His son shouted before beginning to drink.

"What is that?"

"Huh?"

"He says that every time he sees you now. Is it Kryptonian? Kang-gru?"

Clark blushed. "No, it's just how Kon mangles English. I...it's kangaroo. I think Kara was teaching him on the side."

Lex smirked. "An intergalactic kangaroo."

"Yeah, very funny, I know. I think even Kon's against me."

"Well, given him a few decades. Can he do what you can?"

"I honestly have no idea. You heard everything. There have been ten, sorry eleven, infants like Kon over the last five hundred years. I don't know what they can or can't do. I don't know if he'd be able to have a child like I can. It's not likely, considering humans don't, even more remote since the girl would have to be, um-"

"Sterile."

"No, not sterile, just not able to carry the baby. That's a slim chance right there."

"Still, perhaps one day, he'll regret the term."

"He won't though," Clark replied. "Because he'll never know I existed."

"Not for a while, no. Clark, we've known each other for eight years. Surely you don't think I'm going to kill you."

"Just lock me away."

"That I don't deny, but I have no interest in you dead anymore than I have an interest in making Kon a pin cushion for science."

"Just as long as I'm not in the picture."

"I don't deny that either."

He nodded and stroked Kon's hair. It was soft, like Lana's. "Lana said you might keep me around as an option ."

"If we want Joseph-"

"Connor," Clark spat.

"The eternal struggle," Lex quipped. "If we should want another child. Yes, I've thought about that as well. But it's a dead end, isn't it, and quite literally."

"I can't carry a human child to term and survive, no."

"I could ask Chloe. She'd do it."

"I think you should just worry about the child you have. How's Lana working out?"

"We're fine."

"I know that tone. It's not."

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"Do you know the irony in that statement?" Clark shot back. "I heard it but I've seen her with Kon-El. She's afraid of him, disgusted by him. That's been the same since I told I was pregnant and it's not going to change. I told you it wouldn't."

Lex narrowed his eyes. "You don't know that."

"Was she happy when she thought she was pregnant?"

"Yes."

"Really, she didn't want to announce it to anyone."

Lex stiffened. "I can cart you off to Scion, tonight."

"You won't because Kon won't eat much outside of me and he won't take a bottle from you. So, we're at a stalemate. It doesn't matter, Lex. Lana's not capable of being a mom and, you know, considering all she had was Aunt Nell, I'm not surprised."

"The meteor shower killed her parents." Lex quirked his head at him. "There's irony for you. You killed Joseph's grandparents."

Clark swallowed. "The shower wasn't my fault. I don't even know what happened. Zod and Brainiac eviscerated everything and then it all followed me here. I'm sorry about all of it, about you and Lana and Chloe. I can't...it doesn't matter. Lana's not going to be the mother you want her to be."

"She might."

"We talked about this," he said, shifting Kon a little against his stomach and stroking Kon's bangs. "You do know what it's like to watch someone who doesn't want to be a mother be forced into it."

"No," Lex said, his jaw clenched.

"What really happened with Julian?"

"None of your business. My mom had cancer. She was sick and the pregnancy had bad timing. She was already beginning to be ill. If she didn't have the energy to care for Julian, it's not because...she loved us."

Clark narrowed his eyes at Lex. "My mom says-"

"She's lying. I don't care what Metropolis said. They don't know anything about my family."

Clark nodded. "I think my mom's going to start seriously dating your dad. If there was a source into your family, he'd be the best one."

"Because he's so honest."

Clark arched an eyebrow as he settled Kon against his shoulder and started to burp him. "It's not a Luthor trait."

"It's not a Kent one either," Lex snapped. "My mother has nothing to do with this."

"Mine does."

"Martha will be allowed to visit eventually. I just didn't care for her tone."

Clark shook his head and couldn't help from grinning when Kon burped. "No, I mean my other mother."

"Lara?"

He stilled. "That's...you shouldn't even know the name."

"I do."

"I hate you. You took everything."

"You wouldn't give it."

He snorted. "Is that what you'll teach my son? Just take whatever you want. He's invulnerable or will be and inhumanly strong and intelligent. You train him like Lionel did for you and you know what'll happen?"

"I'm not raising a conqueror."

"It'll happen either way. There have to be limits. I have to insist that there are, every day, all the time. You're not completely wrong about us. Kryptonians can be dangerous. Zod was."

"And you and Kara and Jackson Donovan aren't?"

"We don't want to be. We have rules and boundaries, lines we don't cross. Have you ever had any?"

"No."

"I...you can't raise him like that," Clark said, easing Kon back into his arms. "Have you ever researched the Kawatchee legends?"

"I know about Segeeth."

"No, about the child the Numan had, the one the tribe comes from."

"No," Lex answered, leaning forward. Clark had grabbed his attention. "What about him?"

"The Numan wasn't a god or a warrior. He was a scientist from one of the other Houses, not mine."

"House?"

"El, we, um, might have had this title thing going on. I'm fuzzy on it."

"You'd have been royalty?" Lex's tone was incredulous.

"No, it was an elected position. That's the joke of the Council. There was one and my family had been on it for a long time, but it wasn't a nobility thing exactly. I...Kara says we were the best of the science families."

"Science?"

"You know, I'm not dumb. I just...school kind of got away from me," he replied, his cheeks coloring in embarrassment.

"I never said you were. It's just I never thought all that much about where you'd come from."

"I try not to either or I did until Kara came," he replied. "Numan came on a scientific inventory. That was it and then he fell in love with a human and he stayed for her. He wanted their son to respect the same rules of his House and of the Council."

"Which was?"

"We don't interfere. I mean, he broke the rule because he had a human wife, but we're not supposed to mess with the world. We're not supposed to get into politics or start cults or do world conquest."

"No one told that to Zod."

Clark shuddered and rocked Kon, "There are bad Houses too. His has always been rotten. Doesn't matter. They found him, the Numan, and he had to leave. When he was gone, the chief of the Kawatchee took advantage of his grandson."

"The Numan fell in love with the chief's daughter?"

"Yeah, it wasn't a power play, as far as I know. He just fell in love with her, but it made the chief's grandson the Kryptonian. Do you know what he did?"

"No."

"He raised his grandson to be everything the Numan didn't want him to be, to be a killer. The Kawatchee were unstoppable with him and there was so many people he killed, so many other tribes he wiped out because that's how he'd been raised. Kon can do that."

"I don't want that. I have no interest in releasing a Zod of my own. That's why I have Scion. It's why I worked with Fine when I believed he was CIA."

"I hope so, but a Kryptonian without limits...it's terrifying."

Lex eyed him. "I know."

Clark shivered. "I'm not like that. I just...I don't want Kon to ever hurt anyone."

"He won't."

Clark sighed and watched as Kon blinked, struggling to keep his eyes open. "I don't want him to be hurt."

"He won't. I'm not going to turn him into an experiment."

"No, I didn't mean like that. I love my parents."

"I might have noticed that, Clark. Despite the extraterrestrial conspiracy, you were the most Rockwellian family I ever met."

"I know but that's not my point, exactly. I love them, but I knew I was adopted. I mean, it was pretty obvious. I don't look like either of them and I could do so many weird things. I figured it out."

Kon yawned and finally closed his eyes. Lex glanced down at him and held out his arms. "Clark?"

"A few minutes more?"

"Finish your point."

"I will. I loved my parents but I spent a lot of time wondering why the other ones, the biological ones, didn't love me. I know they did now, but it doesn't change the fact that I thought they didn't. Lana can't love Kon because she hates aliens. She can try and love the part of him that's her but it will never be enough. Do you want Kon to grow up not being loved by his parents?"

"She'll adjust," Lex replied stubbornly.

"I know Lionel-"

"Enough," Lex snapped, pulling Kon out of Clark's grasp. "I don't need advice, Clark. I have everything working to plan, and I don't need your opinion on my family, especially not my parents or definitely not my son."

Kon, who awakened from all the movement, blinked wide eyes back at Clark. "Kang-gru?"

"It's fine, buddy," Clark lied, standing up and slipping on his shirt.

"Clark?"

"Yes?" he asked, as he fumbled with the buttons.

"You know what I have, don't you?"

"What?"

"I have Kryptonite. I have all these colors-red, black, green, blue and gold. What does the gold one do?"

"What?"

"The bugging's not perfect. If you ever figured out what it can do, I don't know. I'm not sure about the red, frankly. Based on your attitude problem after the class rings were issued, I can guess."

"Yeah, red is not something that's good for us. It makes us dangerous," he replied, eying Kon.

"Gold?"

"I don't know," Clark insisted, lying with all the skill Chloe had tried to teach him and, frankly, it was true. He didn't know what would happen to him and Kara if their powers were stripped, if they'd catch pneumonia or TB and waste away. He wasn't sure what would happen to Kon either. If even his telekinesis would be left to him.

"Really?"

"I don't know. Dax-Ur told me very little and I have no idea how anything would react with Kon because of how unique he is. I...you'd never use it against him? It's radiation poisoning, Lex."

Lex sighed and slipped Kon into his crib. "No, but it doesn't mean that if I'm ever tempted, I won't use it on you. I'd keep that in mind, Clark."


	55. Chapter 56

56

Her lips were soft on his throat, gentle, teasing, and then everything grew bolder. Bites, nothing hard, nothing would pierce his skin and they both knew that, but still nips here and there. He never thought he'd like something like that until she tried it with him, never thought he'd love a lot of things. He loved the feel of her nails trying to scrape his skin, loved the feel of her riding on top of him. Before, in that hazy human summer that could never compare to what this was, it had been soft and sweet and shy. Fumbling virgins with missionary as the high frontier. But it wasn't now.

She was writhing against him, shouting things that made him blush and alternately drove him to pound hard. Sharp nails, commanding tone, cool, hungry eyes. He reached up to wrap his hands around her waist, mindful, ever mindful of his strength. He could crush her...it took so long to learn how not to, but he won't now.

He wouldn't spoil this.

Never this.

He loves her more than anything, more than his family, more than the great plans J'onn and Kara and Jor-El and everyone else have laid out for him. He's going to keep her. He is keeping her and he's never been happier.

He has everything he's ever wanted.

She screams and it's piercing, almost setting off his sensitive hearing. Nails digging tighter and he's sure one perfect French tip at least has broken against him. She's tightening around him, spasming and massaging and everything and it's too much.

He comes, flooding into her, sighing just a little because no matter how hard they try, the stupid condom always breaks. He's just grateful it's never her.

Dark hair, slick with sweat, is plastered over her forehead and Lana's moaning loud enough for both of them. He clutches to her, feeling satiated and full and happy, letting the after glow settle before he even pulls out. He shifts a little, still stroking her shoulders, whispering a litany of "I love yous" when he feels it.

He's not sure what.

It's not right exactly, just a flutter, something stirring in his stomach, something that almost reminds him of drinking soda too fast when he'd been human once, of a hundreds of tiny bubbles tickling the lining.

That's never happened before.

Lana frowns down at him and stills. "What was that?"

"What was what?" He asks and his voice is too high to ever be considered casual. He hoped she hadn't noticed whatever just happened, had hoped he'd imagined it.

"I felt something off."

He swallows and looks away. He knows that off is a polite way of saying alien . Lana slips off of him and he's silent for a while as she lays down and pillows her head against his shoulder. Reaching out, he strokes her long hair. "I don't know. I could, um, ask Kara maybe. Was it bad?"

She shakes her head and still doesn't quite meet his eyes. "No, just unexpected, pinched a little."

"Did I hurt-"

"No, Clark. It's fine," she replies shortly. "Just fine." And that happy smile comes over her again, the one she wears while baking pies or riding horses with him. The one that matches the way she looks with her hair down and her white peasant tops, the one that never fits with her work clothes for ISIS. She leans up and kisses him again. "It was great. I love you."

He relaxes, sure whatever oddness has passed for the day, and kisses her back. "I love you too."  
>She smirks and licks her lips mischievously and then lifts the covers. Her head disappears under them in a second. "Uh..."<p>

She doesn't say anything but he feels it when she takes him in her mouth, deep as far as she can bear it. Tongue working with a skill he's knows she never had back that summer. She begins to suck just a little and his eyes roll back in his head, all weirdness forgotten.

She's teasing him now, sucking deeply, almost milking him...

Clark shuddered and thrashed against his restraints. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but it was uncomfortable as Hell. They were literally milking him now, an altered version of a breast pump, something special Lex's team had made for him, clamped to his chest. Glancing around the room, he could see a dozen men and women with notepads at the ready writing faster than he'd seen Chloe write down at City Hall. He blushed and closed his eyes, waiting for it to be over. The humiliation of being on display like he was a hundred times worse than the discomfort.

Finally, they had enough for their samples and their testing, and they turned the machine off. Clark waited less than patiently for all the clamps to be removed and his restraints unclipped so that he could shove the gray scrub top back over his chest. He didn't look at anyone until he had.

"Am I done?"

Lex considered him. "For today, I suppose. I had thought about taking other samples, but they wouldn't do me any good, would they?"

Clark frowned. "I gave blood this morning. I was a good little pin cushion."

"That's for baselining," Lex replied tiredly. "We took a sample from Lana as well. We're trying to come up with the difference between the two and assume it's Joseph."

"Not very exact," Clark replied. "He's not fifty-fifty between us."

"Probably not, but it was intended to help us with assessing his vitamin levels. Do you object?"

Clark shook his head and glanced over across the brightly lit lab to where his son was being examined by a dozen different doctors of his own. "If it helps him get healthier, never."

"Good then. I thought as much."

Clark sighed and leaned against the cinder block wall. "What else could you want...oh," he swallowed back his own nausea at the thought.

"It had crossed my mind, like I said, but there aren't viable options. You can't carry an infant to term and I assume a human woman can't either."

Clark looked down at his hands. "Kon siphoned off a lot of my strength in those months. When he started kicking...any normal woman would have died from the force of it. No, I'm not suited for mass market breeding. If you're starting up an army again, I won't be the source for it."

"I'm not. Well, I can't say I hadn't thought of it. With the metas and the other Kryptonians and aliens who still manage to make their way here, a few more people out there with your strength wouldn't be a bad safety measure."

"Why not just raise Kon to be ready for conscription?"

Lex shook his head. "I told you it's not like that."

Clark looked over to where Dr. Russell was giving Kon a booster vaccination. "I hope not. He is doing better though, isn't he?"

"His vitamin levels are much better than they were but not sufficient. If we could get him to take formula."

"I tried. I've tried formula and all kinds of baby food. He just, uh, likes me better."

"Did you eat?"

"Lex, you've met me. You used to have the cook stock tons of extra stuff just for me. You know I eat tons."

"I mean when you were little?"

"I think I did. I remember eating a lot, but I was three and not six months. I just don't know anything."

Lex sighed. "It's funny that they'd send you all this way and not leave you any advice. An advanced civilization sans instructions."

Clark stilled. He hoped Lex didn't know about the Fortress. Although, if he did, Clark would have bet that no matter how much Kon needed him, he'd be in Scion right this minute under lock and key. Being an alien with a fortress sounded really bad and like he was invading. He wasn't. Hell, he could barely keep a farm running. Supreme ruler of the universe seemed like a long shot.

"They sent Kara."

"Yes, I can see why sending a nineteen year old to take care of you would be a cutting edge idea."

"There wasn't anyone else," he said. "I don't know about everything that went down or how it happened, but no one believed what my parents were trying to tell them. They didn't think the world was ending."

Lex nodded. "I've found that people rarely listen to advanced warning."

"I guess Scion and 33.1 are hard to explain to the board of directors."

"Off the corporate books," he replied. "I wish this were easier."

"Sorry stealing my son is complicated," Clark snapped.

"No, it's not that. It's just that if we could get him to eat more Earth foods-"

" I am not a food group," Clark snapped tiredly.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll still keep trying with the bottles."

"You and Lana?" Clark asked, his tone schooled into neutral. "Are you trying?"

"I try all the time. He takes feedings best from you."

"Of course he does."

Lex smirked, "It's not surprising since you're his mother."

"I hate you."

"Clark, sorry, that was immature."

"Well," he said, wincing as he watched Russel draw blood from Kon. "I hate you for a lot more than the potshots."

"Naturally," Lex said, his tone oddly resigned. "Clark, help me out here for him. Was there anything he liked?"

"Apple sauce. Kon likes that best out of anything we tried. It ends up on the walls most of the time but he likes apples best of anything that's not from me."

Lex smiled. "Is that a Kryptonian thing or is it because you spent twenty years downing Martha's pies?"

"I think both. Oh, not peas!"

"What?"

Clark blushed at how enthusiastic he'd been as he eased himself off the table. "We don't like peas. Not me or Kara or Jackson. I don't think they're poisonous or anything, but we really don't like them."

"Well, he'll have to make do with brocoli and green beans when he's older," Lex replied as they walked, shoulder to shoulder, to Kon's corner.

Clark stifled back the flash of pain at the thought of not seeing Kon when he was older. "I guess so, but, yeah, apple sauce or something flavored with apples might start getting him into it."

"We'll work on something," Lex said, nodding as his team parted for him. "How is he today?"

"Much better," Russel replied. "I think we're almost through with his first round of vaccines and he's already gained a pound."

"A Kent with an appetite, imagine that," Lex said, smiling down at Kon. Clark sighed. He did hate Lex and he loathed being treated like some freak cross between a formula dispenser and a nanny with a side of lab rat thrown in for good measure. However, it was impossible to hate Lex one hundred percent, just about 99.5. Lex looked at Kon and he always did smile, always regarded Clark's son with that same measure of awe and affection Chloe did. Clark hoped for Kon's sake, Lex really had loved Julian as much as Clark thought he had.

It hurt that he'd never once seen Lana look at him while pregnant or at their son with that same appreciation.

"Still, Mr. Luthor, we're going to have to revise his nutritional intake."

"Apples."

"What?"

"Apples, start trying them more. Clark says he likes them."

Dr. Russell nodded. "And how are you feeling today, Clark?"

Clark narrowed his eyes at the other man. "My chest is a little sore and I'd really like my bracelet off so I could flash fry the lab but otherwise I can't complain."

"Oh," the doctor replied, gulping. "Your blood work has seemed fine too. It's on par with Kara's baselines. Still, I suspect, far more hormones than you would have under normal circumstances, but definitely down from the latest months we had on record for you."

"Cool, so one day I won't be a complete girl?" Lex smirked but said nothing. Clark wanted to remind the bastard that he had about three inches and forty pounds on him. He could slug pretty hard for a human. "No, Clark, the sooner you wean is probably better for you."

"And for Lex, of course," Clark replied, reaching out to stroke Kon's bangs. His son, who had been busy chewing on the end of a lollipop (the literal, fuzzed out cardboard end. The sucker, itself, was untouched.) dropped his prize and held out his arms.

"Kang-gru!"

Clark blushed as the scientists continued to take notes. "Hey buddy. Lex, please." He hated that worse than anything. He'd carried Kon. He'd spent over a year, all told, caring for him from the first heartbeat until they'd been abducted. He shouldn't have to beg to hold his own child.

The other man shook his head. "We're trying to do other testing, Clark. If you hold him now, he'll get distracted. If we get through it fast enough, I'll let you carry him with me to the nursery."

"How generous...wait, testing?"

Lex nodded and snapped his fingers. One of the researchers (Clark had never bothered to learn their names, which evened out because he wasn't sure they even care about his), stepped forward with a small key and undid the clasp for Kon's bracelet. It fell to the floor with a clatter and Clark watched as the most vivid hint of blue flashed and then drained from his son's eyes. He rolled his eyes at the sound of frantic scribbling after that.

"You are taking it off of him," Clark marveled.

"I said I would. I can't take yours off although, frankly, with the leverage I have over Kara, Sullivan, and your mother, you could have all your powers intact and I needn't worry."

"No, you don't."

"I'm not doing it for long."

"What?"

"I need you to cooperate for the testing. I need a baseline and you're the only Kryptonian we have. So I'm taking it off for the next ten minutes. If you try anything, I'll have your mother's political career ruined so fast even you'd never be able to follow it. Do you understand?"

"I..." Clark hesitated, staring down at Kon. He could maybe be fast enough, if there was no hidden green K and with Lex that was an unlikely assumption.

"Clark, that's where I start. I can hand you over to the DDS any time I choose. Do you get that?"

He nodded and thought of his son locked in a tiny cage for men like that agent who stole Kara to poke and prod and slice into. He wouldn't take that risk. Being raised a Luthor was bad, but being vivisected was infinitely worse. "I promise. Not my family, alright?"

"If you honor your word."

Clark held out his wrist and let one of Lex's minions take the band off. "I always do."

"No," Lex replied. "You lie like a rug, but I think you'll comply today."

"I will," he said, relaxing for the first time in over a week when he heard Kon's heartbeat. Oh, how he'd missed that sound. "Lex, what does testing mean? Are you going to hurt him?"

"No, we're most certainly not doing that." Over Lex's shoulder, Clark noticed a few of his employees frowning. Yeah, Clark just bet some of them were waiting to cut into Kon the second they could.

Bastards.

"Then what are you doing?"

"A hearing test. We're just going to try some frequencies. You said you and Kon both heard the transmissions from the bugs when they malfunctioned."

Clark winced. "They really did hurt."

"I know. I wasn't going to intentionally harm him. I was going to start with a few tones, just from the top of human range, through canine, and see if he has limits. I assume his hearing isn't as sharp yet as yours, considering how small he is."

"I don't think so, but he hears very well. He, uh, could hear noise in the, um, well the you know."

"The womb?"

Clark tried not to grab at his stomach. "Well yeah. So it won't take long?"

"Shouldn't," Lex replied as Dr. Russell set up a device that reminded Clark vaguely of sonar that he'd seen in movies.

"Clark, I'm going to ask you to tell me if you hear anything too to compare."

"Okay, if it gets us out faster."

They started and it was easy enough. He'd had his hearing tested in school when he'd been little and it was like at first, boring and simple. Then they'd hit levels that Clark could tell humans couldn't hear. He'd nod and Kon would reach out for the speaker every time the tone sounded, all the while the scientists had to wait for that cue. They couldn't follow it. Then, the pitches got sharper, more biting and it made Clark wince.

Kon whimpered.

"It's pretty high right? We can stop, can't we?"

"A few more."

"It hurts," Clark replied simply, cupping Kon's damp cheeks. "It's not comfortable anymore."

Kon whimpered again with the next piercing sound and it was almost as bad as that morning on the farm that had precipitated everything. "Kang-gru, pwease."

The scientists jumped on that. Kon had been limited to 'mommy' and 'kangaroo' so far. This was a first for him with 'please.' Clark wished he could burn the notebooks to cinders.

"Buddy, it's fine," he replied, although he was even wincing a little. "Can we stop yet?"

"One more," Lex replied and this time it was exactly like on the farm and Clark clamped his hands over Kon's ears, even though that wouldn't block anything. Kon started to wail and, just as Clark expected, something exploded.

He was pretty impressed it was the noise machine, itself.

"I guess we are done," Clark replied, scooping Kon up faster than a human could have followed the movement. "Shh, buddy, no more noise."

"Kang-gru," he moaned before breaking into his own little Kon language.

"Shh, I know," Clark replied, sighing when he felt the clamp of cold lead against his wrist again and then the world went far too quiet. "It's okay, buddy, no more tests. I promise."

Lex nodded. "That's sufficient. We won't be doing the hearing test again for at least six months."

Clark narrowed his eyes at Lex as his son stilled in his arms. "You weren't testing our hearing at all."

"I don't know what you mean."

Clark cradled Kon closer and started walking with Lex to the elevator bank. "You wanted to see how far you had to push Kon to get him to use his telekinesis."

"Why would I do that?" Le replied, noncommittally. "It was impressive though."

Clark sighed and kissed his son's head. "You're going to spend a lot of money on glass. I'd keep him out of anywhere with the stained stuff. The windows in your office are really nice."

"I'll keep that in mind." Lex said as he pushed the button for the top. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"You were helpful. I appreciate that you kept your word."

"I appreciate not being in a government issued cage, so we're even."

Lex nodded. "Still, I appreciated it. Would you like to spend the day with Kon?"

"Alone?"

"Of course not, but if you'd like, we can arrange for something more today than feeding time in the nursery."

Clark hesitated, "Why?"

"Because I don't see the point in torturing you and because I think making Joseph-"

"Connor," Clark snapped out of habit more than anything else."

"Joseph is going to do better if you help more with him adjusting to the manor, and because...never mind, just yes or no?"

Clark's eyes widened. "You can't get Lana to do anything at all, can you? You think I can reason with her."

"I didn't say that."

Clark sighed and kissed his son again. "Lex, if I could reason with Lana, I wouldn't be here."


	56. Chapter 57

57

Clark was lying in the grass on the manor grounds, the sleeves of his Oxford rolled up as high as he could make them so that he could feel sun's rays pouring into him. Kon, who was tuckered out from everything that afternoon, was lying on a blanket next to him, in nothing more than a diaper. Occasionally, heavy eyelids fluttered open and he'd reach out for Clark's shoulder but, mostly, it was nap time for the House of El.

Lex was sitting in a chair not too far off from them. Clark never saw Lex as much of an outdoor guy so he wasn't surprised that Lex wasn't also sitting on the ground. Still, there was something odd about sitting out in the June sun in clothes that Clark knew had to cost several thousand dollars. Really, he'd prefer just jeans if he had to be the prisoner.

But, apparently, Luthor prisoners only wore the very best.

"You know," Lex added conversationally. "Joseph doesn't have any vitamin D deficiencies."

"I guess he wouldn't," Clark replied, squeezing his son closer.

"You really are solar-powered, aren't you?"

"That's what they've told me," Clark replied. "I could always feel it, even if I didn't get it. I'm sluggish in the winter, not as fast. I used to stay up for days on end in the summer, though. It drove my dad nuts."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"What happen a lot?"

"Feeling things that you don't get? Just making it up as you go?"

"Yeah, pretty much. My parents...they didn't tell me for the longest time."

"How long?"

"After you hit me with a Porsche," Clark replied, falling into a rhythm oddly easier than anything he'd had with Lex in years. There clearly wasn't anything left to hide or almost. He wasn't ever telling him about the Fortress or about what he thought the Gold K could do.

"That was twelve years after the shower. They just let you think you were human?"

Clark shrugged. "Do you think it's a safe thing to have a five year old telling anyone who would listen that he's an alien? They were right to hold off."

"They waited until after I hit you, when you had a dramatic example to question your abilities."

"Uh, yeah."

"Were they ever going to tell you, Clark?"

He shifted in the grass and looked up at the sky. "Honestly, I don't know. I've never asked my mom what they would have done if you hadn't hit me. The truth is that I couldn't do a fraction of what I could back then. I didn't have the heat or the X-ray vision. I couldn't hear like I can now, not exactly. I couldn't blow a tornado or brush off bullets like I do now. They, uh, used to bruise a lot like with Rickman."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You couldn't float."

Clark blushed. He was sure that his room had a feed in it. Whatever hormones were flooding through him had changed the way he slept. Ever since the fourth month, he hadn't stayed planted on the mattress while he slept. Lex had been smart enough to take the slats out of his bed the second night.

"No, I couldn't, but I, uh, got that one pretty fast."

"I thought it came from the pregnancy."

"No, I started doing it the night of freshman Homecoming."

"That's nine years, almost and you still can't do what Kara can?"

"I'm not so good at some things," he defended. "Kara's terrible with her heat vision, so I think it evens out, actually."

"Defensive."

"Am not. I get tired of everyone all being 'why don't you fly more, Clark?' Can you fly?"

"Well of course not."

"Exactly my point. I think I'm ahead of the curve."

Lex shook his head and laughed. "We're actually having this conversation, aren't we?"

"Pretty much. Why? Are my deep, dark alien secrets not as impressive in the light of day?"

Lex looked between him and Kon. "No, they're still extraordinary. I just find some of it humorous."

"It's not all that funny. I...God, this is embarrassing."

"Then why share it?"

"Because I don't know what's going to happen to me. I know you aren't going to kill me, but I know I won't be around to help Kon either if the League can't spring me. Someone has to know these things because he'll have questions too and someone has to help him. It sucks if you're all alone and in the dark. It's too hard."

"I can imagine."

"No," Clark snapped, glaring at him. "You can't. I had a car hit me at sixty miles and hour and smash me through a Jersey barrier and I didn't have a scratch. Five days later I woke up after dreaming about Lana and I was three feet above my bed. There's nothing that compares to the kind of mindfuck that is. Even if you'd never come to town, they probably couldn't have kept lying to me. Not after I realized I could defy gravity. Certainly not after I could shoot fucking lasers out of my eyes."

"Clark-"

"These things will happen to him. He'll grow up and then weird things will happen and he won't understand why or he will and he'll still be terrified and I won't be there."

"Your biological parents and Kara weren't there either and you survived."

"I wish they had been. I wish Kara had woken up with me. I love my parents, but if I'd someone, anyone, around to show me how, to tell me that it would stop eventually, that no matter how weird I'd got I'd still at least be able to pass for human, it would have helped me sleep better."

"I might tell him, you know."

"That I exist?"

"No, I don't think that's wise, but I'd tell him about where he's from. Not when he's so very little but earlier than they told you."

Clark sighed and stoked on small hand. "I don't know what's better, not knowing or knowing. It hurts to hear the truth, hurts worse than any amount of Kryptonite, but I felt human growing up. I feel that way now. I mean, Kara's not some weird Vulcan or something. Her personality is not an act."

"I've noticed. I've come by The Talon. She has a mouth on her."

"She fits in well with my wife," Clark replied. "But we're not the same. She loves Jimmy, I know she does, and she and Lois are good friends and she loves Earth, even stupid talk shows and bad boy bands."

"But?"

"She's not ever going to fit here the way I do."

"You don't."

"I think I do pretty good," he snapped. "I mean, she has this wall in place between us and them. Actually, if I wasn't sure you'd cut her into little pieces too, I'd love for you to talk to her. She has a million 'Krypton was better than Earth and humans are kind of like monkeys because' stories."

"That's refreshing."

"I...I'm glad that I didn't grow up that way. I want to fit here. I want Kon to feel like that. These are his people. He's as human as he is Kryptonian. He's not just his powers."

"I know."

"I hope so. Don't pull a stunt like that again, Lex."

"Like what?"

"Don't even," Clark groused, sitting up and sighing as Kon opened his eyes all the way.

"Kang-gru!" Kon said and he sounded so much like Chloe when she was frustrated with him. Apparently someone wasn't ready for his big, warm blanket to sit on up.

"Sorry, buddy," he replied, picking Kon up and settling him against his shoulder.

Lex shook his head. "He's remarkable. I can't wait to measure his IQ."

"I'll bet," Clark drawled. "You promised me he wouldn't be a lab rat."

"He's not, but there's no harm in testing."

"There was harm in it this afternoon. He was crying, Lex. Maybe you didn't know but when we cry, it means we're in pain. Like I said, we're not that different."

"I'm sorry. It was an unfortunate side effect-"

"Don't. You wanted to make him uncomfortable enough to use his powers. Don't do that to him. I'm not dumb enough to think that you wouldn't test a Kryptonian if you had the chance, but I really was hoping you'd keep it to blood work that's part of making sure he's healthy. I didn't think that you'd go as far as you did, not if you really want a son."

"I do want a son."

Clark quirked his head at him and looked down at Kon's wide, green eyes. "Do you? Kon can be one or the other, but I don't think he's both. If you actually love him like a son, you wouldn't do that to him, not to satisfy some sick curiosity. And if you want a guinea pig, then just pretending like he matters as a person is going to confuse him."

Lex looked stricken. "I meant what I said, Clark. He's not some twenty year experiment."

"Then treat him better," Clark replied, nuzzling his son's cheek. "Yeah, that is my hair, buddy. Do you want to stop tugging?"

"Hut-la-noo-ba," Kon said, after careful thought. When he tugged again, Clark decided that was Kon for "no I'd much rather keep tugging."

Lex laughed. "He's very cute."

"He's the cutest baby in the universe. Both Kara and J'onn said so and they've seen a lot of the universe so it must be true."

"Well," Lex said, still grinning, "Joseph-"

"Connor. It's a nice name. Chloe put some thought into it. Kon-El's even better, not that I was going to call him that as a little kid. Kara says that it was one of our ancestors and he was like Prime Minister or something."

"Impressive. I thought a lot of things about you and, after Fine, it definitely occurred to me that you and Zod's men were from the same planet. Still, I never quite pictured you or the barrista as, what, is it royalty?"

Clark blushed. "No, not quite. It's I think an elected thing. Um, it's kind of like being a Kennedy, I guess."

"I never would have seen you that way."

"I'm a simple guy and Kara's a little special," he admitted. "They're good names, Lex."

"They're from your family, Clark. Like I said, if you just get used to everything, this will get easier."

"No, it won't. Please don't hurt him just because you can. You wouldn't want to do that anyway. Like I said, he's more powerful than I am, than Zod was, and we both know it's true. You raise him to be antisocial, raise him so he can't trust his 'father,'" Clark choked at the thought of that word applied to Lex at all. "And everyone's going to be sorry. So, if it's not out of mercy or love, could you at least do it out of self-preservation?"

"I'll consider your position."

"You're an asshole, you know."

Kon giggled. "As-"

"No buddy, I didn't mean that one. Any other word."

Kon looked back at him and nodded. "Kang-gru."

"Better."

Lex laughed. "He is a lot like Kara and Chloe, isn't he?"

"Too much. He's like Kara, part two." Clark shrugged. "At least I can take comfort in the fact he's going to eat you alive."

"Funny," Lex said, picking up his cell. "I wanted to try feeding him again, like a picnic. I thought if he were already out here in the sun and relaxed, he might be more amenable to trying solid food." Flipping it open, he waited to speak. "Yes, you can send it all out now."

Clark sighed and looked back at Kon. "Buddy, do you want to try food?"

Kon blinked back at him.

"You know like back at the farm. Lots of food. Are you hungry?"

Kon's eyes widened and he started babbling while reaching for Clark's chest.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lex replied, still smirking. "You have to admit, that part's pretty funny."

"It would be a lot funnier if it weren't me," Clark replied. He frowned as one of Lex's servants and Lana came out to the field. The woman trailing behind Lana was loaded down with a tray of baby food and apple sauce (naturally). "Oh."

Lana looked down at him and Kon and sighed. "Lex, I didn't know he was going to be here."

"Yeah," Clark snapped. "I live here now. It's kind of how being kidnapped works."

Lana turned back to Lex and now that Clark thought about it, Kara was right. She did stand like she has something permanently wedged up her ass. "I thought he only went to the nursery and to testing."

"I got paroled for good behavior. Maybe if I make license plates, I can walk around the yard more," Clark snapped.

"Lex, really," Lana started.

The maid, who was really gifted at ignoring the fact that Clark was clearly not on the grounds of his own free will, finished placing the food and a large plastic spoon on Kon's blanket before she turned back to the kitchen. "Mr. Luthor, it's all here."

"Thank you, Cecile. You may go."

She nodded and hurried back to the house.

Still glaring at him, Lana sat down on another chair. Yeah, her clothes probably weren't grass stain proof either. "What's going on?"

Clark rolled his eyes and opened a jar of Gerber apple compote. "See, you might not have noticed this because you never spend time with Kon, but you have to feed babies. Actually, you have to feed them all the time. So we're trying something different since he's not eating-"

"People food."

"Ahem, food for human infants, like he should," Clark corrected. He really hated being some weird mix of hostage, nurse maid, and pet.

"And you're involved when it's not nursing because?" she snapped.

"He's involved because Joseph responds best to him and it's very hard to coax him into trying new things."

"And because you won't touch him," Clark snapped, flinching a little when Kon started to whimper. "Shh, buddy, daddy's not mad at you, I promise."

Kon stopped and sniffled. "Kang-gru?"

"Loves you very much," he replied, kissing Kon's forehead. "You're okay, buddy. Hey," he said, spooning out some applesauce. "Would you like to try it now? It's good!" Ignoring the Luthors' scrutiny, Clark brought the spoon to his son's lips. "Can you try it for me?"

Kon quirked his head and sniffed the applesauce. "Lu-la-ni-ru."

He was pretty sure that was Kon for "Now, let's talk about this."

Clark sighed and stuck the spoon in his mouth instead. "See, yummy!"

Kon frowned.

"Kon, buddy, it's good!" Actually, it was kind of mushy, but it tasted mostly like apples and it was better than not eating anything at all.

Kon shook his head and started chattering again. He kept jutting out his chin like Chloe would and it made Clark laugh. As he looked up, he noticed the pinched set to Lana's features. She recognized the expressions Kon was making. Clark was glad she had. Chloe'd spent all of Kon's life with him, minus the first three weeks. Of course he'd take after her. He was so glad that it wasn't Lana instead. She really did make this rodent like face and it wouldn't have been cute on Kon at all.

"It's yummy! Really!" Clark said, placing the spoon near his lips. Kon considered the spoon and opened his mouth after a long pause. Clark smiled as his son swallowed the first spoonful. "Good boy. That was so good!"

Kon giggled and clapped.

"Uh, now we only have about twenty more spoonfuls to go. No sweat," he replied, looking up between Lex and Lana. "I...does anyone else want to try?" He asked, giving Kon another spoonful, which he easily accepted.

"Lana?"

She glanced down at Kon, hesitating over his eyes first and then over his bare wrist. "Maybe later."

Clark's eyes narrowed. "I'm not surprised."

"Lana," Lex started.

"I just...maybe later."

"You know," Clark said, mopping up Kon's chin. "He has sunglasses. You don't have to look at him if it's so terrible for you."

"It's not."

"Liar," Clark snarked in Kryptonian, kind of enjoying the way Lana flinched. "Well, this is actually working out pretty well right now. At least something's going right."

Then Kon decided he'd much rather see what his kangaroo looked like with apple sauce all over his hair. Grinning, his son pushed the spoon and giggled shrilly when most of the apple compote landed in his bangs.

"Or not."

"At least you're entertaining, Clark," Lex replied, although there wasn't any joy in his tone. Clark looked up and watched Lex watch Lana. He wondered if it would take Lex four months to get it too.

The next day and after a long shower that involved prying off a lot of dried apple sauce from his hair, Clark was surprised to be summoned to Lex's office. Wow, with all this free reign, he was going to feel spoiled or something. Clark sighed as several men, even larger than he was, led him into the office.

He smiled, though, when he found his mother standing there. "Mom!"

She smiled at him. "Clark, how are you?"

"Great. Four star treatment all the way," he drolled, frowning at the way his mom kept glancing back at the fireplace. No, he had no idea why Lex kept it stoked all the time. Of course, Lex had always been a bit over dramatic. It did look cool like that. Even if it had to be hot.

"Clark," Lex said, standing up from his desk. "I said that I'd let Martha visit. I apologize that Chloe is under no admittance, but I wanted to make good on my word."

"I...thanks. That's surprisingly big of you," Clark replied. "Can we go to the nursery?"

Lex nodded. "A few minutes with his grandmother wouldn't hurt anything and maybe someone else would like to try feeding him too. Your hair could use a break."

Clark rolled his eyes. "At least I have tons."

His mom laughed at that. "Lex, I'll send your regards to Lionel."

"I bet you will, Martha," he replied, his tone clipped.

Clark smirked. His mom was so pissed. He didn't put it past her to kill Lex before she left the mansion today. "Mom, come on. Kon's going to love seeing you."

"I'm glad to be able to see him," she replied, following him down the hall. When they reached the nursery, his mom sighed and shut the door behind her. She did not, however, approach Kon.

"Mom?"

Kal-El .

Oh that was so fucked up.

"What the-"

Don't say anything. Just take me over to Kon and keep talking about anything inane.

"Sure, um, he learned to say 'please,' yesterday, mom," Clark said, leading J'onn over to the the crib. He lifted Kon up and cradled him. "How do I-"

Keep rambling. I can read your thoughts.

That's even weirder and hey!

I've never done it until now, Kal-El, but desperate times.

Clark nodded and started talking about the picnic yesterday, while handing Kon over to the Manhunter.

Is everyone okay? Kara and Jax?

Are safe. Do not worry about either of them. Kal-El, I've come because I'm here to inform you that we're running a raid tomorrow on ISIS.

Clark frowned and helped his "mother" settle into the rocker.

I don't understand.

Victor and Chloe have been doing extensive digging in the last week. The only way to get you out from under Lex is to have more leverage over him than he does over you. You have to find something on him so damaging that if he tried to cross you, it would ruin not only his empire, but land him in federal prison.

Mutually assured destruction, so we can stalemate. But why ISIS? Lana runs that.

J'onn sighed and this was still going to give him odd nightmares, probably starring his actual mother in a Shaft coat. Kal-El, you are not going to like this.

Well that sums up the last fourteen months. What happened?

Pardon the rhetorical technique but, Kal-El, do you remember the month or so after Kon must have been conceived?

Perfect memory. What about it?

J'onn sighed and stroked Kon's cheek. Clark smiled. Once upon a time, although he still did not know the story, J'onn had had children of his own. Of course, his son had been green and red-eyed but the concept was the same.

Kal-El why do you think Lana was spending so much extra time at ISIS?

She was buying out another property to expand the offices. She was putting in more clinic space that didn't involve me and Kon at all.

That's true, but it wasn't the type of clinic you would have hoped for.

Huh?

She expanded her operation two-fold. She created a suite of labs geared to study meteor mutants the way she studied you and Kon or the way she treated Casey Brock. It is not a coincidence she was so skilled in acquiring medical teams and in blackmailing them. She'd had practice.

Clark gulped. She wouldn't do that. I mean, ISIS was about helping the meteor infected, wasn't it? She did have real clinics, right? I mean...that's just like Lex and 33.1.

I doubt ISIS was ever more than a front for her to spy on Lex and for her to assess the meteor-infected threat.

'Assess'?

Some of the patients who consulted with her counseling center have gone missing, Kal-El. But that is not the worst of it.

Clark eyed Kon. Lana couldn't...okay, she clearly could. She'd tried to poison her own son. But if she'd do all of that, what about Kon. Would he grow up to be like her too? Kon shifted in the Manhunter's grip and gurgled. No, not his son. Kon was sweet and kind and they wouldn't let him be like Lana.

No matter what.

What did she do?

The second half of her operation was to collect records on not only the meteor mutants who came to her but anyone she suspected, anyone who would give her even hints, like witch hunt. She has records on hundreds of mutants. I suspect she'll release them, when she's ready. Either send them to authorities or make the knowledge public somehow, ruin their reputations.

Like being a sex offender, except the meteor mutants would be outed even against their consent or knowledge.

Yes. You have seen first hand how they are treated. It is why Chloe's never said anything.

Clark nodded, thinking of Alicia and what had happened to her. So this has to do with Lex because?

Since she started having an affair with him, they've pooled their resources, created a joint venture. Lex's end of the operations can't be traced. He's too good for that. We're hoping that Lana is sloppier. That there's something on the main hard drives at ISIS. That's the purpose of the raid. We should know something by tomorrow and be able to have you out. This isn't going to last any longer.

Clark smiled. Really?

Truly. I believe that we will find what we need. Lana is a fool and she is wreckless. Lex is so blinded by his devotion to her that he's allowed her to become his liability.

The Manhunter smiled and handed Kon back to Clark. "I know you two are coming home soon. I can feel it."

"Thanks, mom," Clark replied, a little weirded out by having to call his guardian that. "Thanks for coming to see us."

"No problem, son," he replied, taking Clark's hand and leaving something small yet very important in his palm.

Clark had to thank Lois Lane and he hated that. When Chloe was ten, Lois taught her how to pick locks (she'd learned it herself from someone in the base's motor pool). Chloe had passed her consummate skill onto Clark the summer he'd been mortal because he needed a trade skill to compensate for his lack of metal crushing strength. Clark was now putting his skill to use by using the two bobby pins J'onn had smuggled in to him.

He had no illusions that the mansion had cameras, but he didn't care much. If he had the chance to spend extra time with Kon, he was going to take it.

When he got to the nursery, he was surprised to find he wasn't the only person who felt that way. Easing the door shut behind him and hoping he'd get at least a few minutes with his family. All of them.

"Lana."

She was sitting in the rocker, staring across the nursery to where Kon lay sleeping, hovering at least foot above the rim of his crib. Despite everything, Clark smiled. Chloe had a point. It was a really cool thing to see.

Startled, she looked back at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Trade secret. Doesn't matter, I'm sure Lex will make sure I can't do it again." He sighed and leaned against the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Connor."

"That's novel. You going to do it once every week or so and when he can't see you?"

"I don't know."

Clark shook his head and strode over to the crib. It was almost 3 AM and he didn't want to wake Kon, just see him. He sighed and let his shoulders slump, some of his anger drained out of him. He was disgusted by her, but he didn't have time for the bitterness. Not when he was with Kon.

"Lex wants me to talk to you, you know. He hasn't said it out loud, exactly, but he thinks that I can make you want to hold Kon, that I can make you be his mother. He's about where I was eight months ago. But we both know better, don't we?"

She sighed and he could hear the rocker creaking. "It's hard, Clark."

"No, it's really not," he replied, stroking Kon's back. Everyone loves Kon. Lex is a twisted bastard, but even he has some kind of warped affection for him. You're the only one, Lana."

"I just can't...Nell-"

"Nope," Clark replied, finally turning to look at her. "It's not about her either. It's about you , Lana. Can you love anybody?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"A valid one," he replied. "Do you remember what everything was like before? I do. I remember what we had before Kon came and, at the time, I thought it was good. I mean, everything had been so screwed up with what happened with my powers and with Casey Brock and the Phantom but then we were trying so hard to make it work. I was trying."

Kon stirred and opened his eyes and Clark smiled, enamored with the way they glittered in the night. "Kang-gru?"

"Hey buddy. You're not supposed to be up now."

"Ru!" he babbled happily and Clark couldn't resist the invitation. Leaning over, he scooped his son up and cradled him in his arms. " Te eu iubesc , Kon."

Kon giggled. "Kang-gru!"

Clark kissed the top of his son's head and sat down on the small sofa alongside Lana's rocker. He didn't even care when she looked away. "I was thinking about it yesterday, about the night that we must have...about when he was, um, conceived." And his own cheeks had to be neon pink.

"Clark-"

"I'm not saying more than that. Even if Kon has no idea what I'm saying, that's not something I want to say in front of him. I just meant that I remember and I loved you."

"You have a funny way of showing it," she snapped. "I didn't appreciate being under the canary's lock and key."

"Past tense. I stopped loving you when you tried to poison my . But I thought everything about that, I thought it was because we loved each other. I thought Kon came out of that."

"I did love you."

"Not all of me," Clark replied, looking down at his son's preternatural eyes. "I love him."

"I know."

"I wouldn't change anything that happened because then he wouldn't be here."

"But?"

"But we wrong about all of it. I...you didn't love me and I was trying to make you by being just like the Phantom, by giving you what you wanted."

"What's the point of all of this?" Lana snapped.

Kon didn't like her tone and started to cry, his wails echoing throughout the room. The stupid clown mobile spun a little and Clark shook his head as Lana's back went rigid.

"Shh, buddy. Lana didn't mean it," Clark replied, rocking his son. "The point," he replied. "Is that one of two things are going to happen and they're going to happen pretty soon. Either Chloe's going to spring both of us or Lex is going to win unequivocally and I'll be carted off to Scion and I'll never see him again. Lex wants to the latter to happen because he's jealous and he knows Kon would never like him, if I'm even around, but he's banking that his whole plan is going to work because you'll magically become my mother."

"I could get better."

"You're not going to and we both know it. I have faith in Chloe."

Lana snorted. "Of course you do."

"Chloe saved my life and you had me kidnapped, don't even start," he replied, speaking quietly so as not to scare Kon. "But if she can't fix this, then Kon deserves better than this sham."

"And what do I do?"

Clark shook his head. "Tell him, Lana. Stop pretending. Just admit that this isn't going to work."

"Then he'll let you go?"

"No, he won't, but maybe...I don't know. Kon deserves a real mother and you're never going to be it, are you?"

"I wanted to be. If he were-"

"Don't even say human ," Clark snarled. "He's half yours, Lana. I'd give anything if Chloe were his biological mother, but she's not. He's half of you, your family, your blood, like Kara's mine, and he's as human as he is a traveler. That doesn't even matter and you know it doesn't."

"I do not."

"No," Clark replied. "You do. You never loved the baby you thought you had with Lex either."

She slapped him and it actually stung. "Get out. You have no idea how happy I'll be the day they take you away, Clark."

He shuddered and stood up, pulling Kon far out of her reach. "You know I'm right, Lana."

"You don't know anything about me."

"No, it's the other way around. You don't know anything about me , but I can see you very clearly, even without five different types of vision. Lex can't or he won't yet." Clark sighed and rocked his son. "Kon's the only good thing you've ever made, Lana. He deserves so much more than this. Fix it."

She shook her head and curled her lip at him. Reaching up, she pressed the intercom in the nursery. "Lex, Clark's managed to get out. Someone should come get him." She leaned back in the rocker after that and smiled a cold, society wife smile. "I hope you had a nice visit. You're going to have less from now on."

It took three security guards and the very real threat of a taser to get him to release Kon after that.


	57. Chapter 58

58

Clark struggled against the two guards holding him. He hated not having his powers, fucking loathed it. When he was himself, nothing could hold him for long, not even Kara or Victor or J'onn were a match for him. But right now, all he could do was struggle and curse.

"Let me fucking go!"

Lex entered into Clark's bedroom, into the room he'd been dragged to. "I thought we were coming to an understanding."

"That I was good and gave you my arm when you asked and took off my shirt when you told me and let them play with my hearing. I do everything and you throw out a few crumbs, are nice enough to let me see my son? No, Lex, there isn't an understanding."

Lex sighed theatrically and Clark wondered if Lionel had taught him how to do that. "I keep telling you that if you just accept the inevitable-"

"I won't."

"Your biggest problem has always been how rigid you are, Clark," Lex replied. "How did you get out?"

"Aren't I bugged here? Don't you have a ton of hidden cameras just so you can take notes on how an alien sleeps? What his favorite TV shows are, stuff like that?"

Lex nodded, "I was being polite. Keep the hair pins. It won't matter in the morning." He sighed and nodded to his detail. "Let him go."

"Mr. Luthor-"

"I said let him go."

The larger of the two guards, and something about him seemed ex-military to Clark, finally relaxed his grip. Clark took his shot and punched Lex. He was on the floor with a knee in his back before he knew it.

"Sir, I tried to warn you," the guard said. "Are you alright?"

Clark looked up and was satisfied to see the blood welling on Lex's split lip. It probably wouldn't even be there come morning. Lex had always healed almost as fast as Chloe did now. "I'll be fine. That, I didn't expect."

"I'm human like this, not defenseless. I'm still a hell of a lot bigger than you are, Lex."

"And you had the drop on me. You're untrained and if you really wanted to go a round or two, you wouldn't last long. Have you gotten your aggression out for the night?"

"Probably not," he spat, struggling still. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to fix the door so you can't pick it." Lex shook his head. "I really wish you hadn't done this. Lana's furious."

"I noticed."

Lex hesitated, "She doesn't want you near Joseph."

"So she won't touch him or look at him, but I can't be there either. That's mature. What are you going to do?"

"She wants to limit your access. I don't think the picnic pleased her."

Clark considered that. "But it was the first time since Kon's been here that anyone, even Chloe, was able to get him to eat something with human nutrition in it. You do need me."

"I know, but we'll still try just bottle feeding him a mix of what we have from you and formula for the next few days. See if he'll take something from me, maybe from her."

"Kon really doesn't like Lana. She makes him cry."

"She's his mother."

"She got me pregnant. That's it," Clark spat. "She's even less his mother than I hear Lillian was yours."

Lex's head snapped back. "I've been exceedingly patient with you. I don't care if my father has found another whore, my mother was excellent and anything anyone else says is a lie. Clark, we're going to see how fast we can faze you out now because this isn't working."

"If you try this, Kon's not going to eat."

"He will. Eventually, he'll forget all about you."

Clark shook his head. "No, he won't, not completely. Our memories don't work that way and there will always be something at the back of his mind, even if it's subconscious, just like me and Lara. You can't get rid of me."

"I can try. You're here in case this fails, but don't think I can't have you moved to Scion whenever I want. Good night, Clark."

And with that, they slammed the door in his face and turned the lock.

Clark didn't move for the rest of the day, didn't sleep either. He just lay in his bed and waited, straining human hearing for sounds of his son. It wouldn't do any good, unless Kon started crying. Even humans could hear that. He was waiting. J'onn promised him the raid was today. If they got anything, they'd come for him. Hell, it was probably only J'onn restraining her that had kept Kara from coming back after the first day.

By eight PM, he'd heard nothing from anyone. God, he hoped Lex's people hadn't done anything to them. Could ISIS be booby-trapped?

Clark turned over onto his side and, for the first time, wished that his powers were more like J'onn's. If only he knew anything.

He was lying like that when the door opened. Looking up, Clark was mildly surprised to find Lex standing in the doorway. There were large circles under his eyes and he had a haggard look about him that reminded Clark of when Lionel had drugged him. "Lex?"

"I was wrong."

Clark sat up and placed his elbows on his knees. "You know, I've heard people tell me I was an alien and that I was pregnant and I expected those sentences more than I'd expect you to say that."

Lex nodded. "I know. If I weren't exhausted, I probably wouldn't admit to it. But we've been trying for twelve hours and he won't take anything. I can't decide if it's because he hates bottle feeding and human formula that much or if it's because he's deliberately protesting the lack of the kangaroo."

"Is he okay?"

Clark could go a few days, easily, without food or water. He'd done it once from Pete on a dare. He'd made it to five, actually, and could have gone more but his mom made pie that day and the hundred bucks Pete had bet him for the week wasn't worth it. But he had no idea what Kon could do. He was still partially human, after all, and so very little.

"He's pretty dehydrated, frankly. We've gotten some water down him with a lot of effort, but that's been it. We do need you."

" Kon needs me," Clark snapped, standing up. "Where is he?"

"He's in the nursery. Dr. Russell is with him. He's alright but not well. If we could get something in him, he'll be fine."

Clark nodded. "Are you going to try keeping me from him again?"

Lex shook his head. "No. I...I never wanted that."

Clark shivered as they started down the hall. "How bad is he?"

"Listless, tired, his eyes are a little dull." Lex didn't say anything else but Clark noticed the remote look in his eyes. Lex had been the one to find Julian, after all.

They passed into the nursery and Clark shuddered further when he saw Kon lying quietly on his changing table. He was shirtless and Dr. Russell had a small stethoscope pressed to his chest. Clark had never moved faster without his superspeed. Quickly, he scooped Kon up and brought him to his chest. "Buddy?"

Kon blinked up at him and he was clearly flushed and his eyes did lack a lot of their usual shimmer. "Ru."

"Shh, buddy," he said, unbuttoning his shirt with one hand. "Kangaroo's here. Are you hungry?"

Kon frowned and looked back at Lex.

Clark quirked his head at him. Kon couldn't...yeah, there was a cause and an effect. If Kon fed, Clark had to leave, but Konwas too little to understand that. Except he'd staged the protest in the first place. "Connor, drink now and I promise I'll stay."

Kon glared harder at Lex and he was so Chloe right then it hurt.

"No, really, I'm not going anywhere. Am I, Lex?"

Lex looked between the two of them and his eyes widened, realizing that the six month old was making demands. "You don't have to leave at all, Clark. You have my word that you can spend as long as you want here."

Kon considered that and it was really a little creepy. Clark knew he and Kara were smart. Jax was startling mature for an eight year old, but he never thought about how much smarter they must have been than humans. He didn't feel that much smarter except for the math stuff. Kon nodded and babbled something that only he knew the meaning of before finally starting to suckle. He did it slowly, taking a long time to get much of anything. He must have been very weak by then.

Clark sat down in the rocker and looked up at Lex. "You should have come to me hours ago. I think he has a fever and even for us, that's saying alot. We always run hot anyway."

"I know."

"Are you happy that you spited me?"

"Not especially. I just thought that if I..."

"Fazed me out that you could slide Lana in?" Clark sighed and stroked Kon's bangs. His hair was fine, soft, and reminded him uncomfortably of his biological mother's.

"I had assumed as much."

"Uh-huh," Clark replied noncommittally. He didn't say anything to Lex after that. Lex wouldn't believe him about Lana (and now he knew how Kara felt all those months on the farm), and there wasn't anything he could say to change that now. So, instead, he sat and focused on his son. Gradually, Kon's cheeks became unflushed and his temperature cooled to something almost typical for him. Finally, Kon opened his mouth and moved his head away just enough for Clark to refasten his buttons. "Shh, is that better?"

Kon blinked wide, sad eyes back at him. "Ru, acasa ."

Clark sighed and kissed each of Kon's chubby cheeks. "Soon, I promise."

"What did he say?"

"Huh?" Clark said, finally remembering that Lex was still in the room. Dr. Russell wasn't. He must have ducked out when Clark started feeding.

" Acasa ? Is that his language or is it Kryptonian?"

"It's Kryptonian," Clark replied. "He wants to go home, Lex."

"Clark-" Lex started and then the house shook.

Kon grinned. "Lu-na-re-oo!"

"That?"

"Is Kon for 'Aunt Kara's here.'" Clark replied, scooping his son up. "I'm gonna kill her."

Lex held out his arms. "Give him here."

"What?"

"We're going down to deal with her. I want to have Joseph with me. I don't trust you."

Clark sighed and handed Kon off. "The feeling is mutual."

Clark shook his head as he made his way down the stairs. Kara was already on her knees, felled by the green rocks around the necks of at least six of Lex's guards. "Lex?"

The other man nodded and stayed at the top of the stairs, keeping Kon as far away from the rocks as possible.

"Kara?"

"Kal!"

"You know," he added conversationally. "This didn't work the first time you tried it." Narrowing his eyes, he switched to Kryptonian. "You promised me that you'd stay away with the other one. Anyone but you, Kara. They probably aren't going to let you leave this time."

Kara grinned. "I think they are."

"Huh?"

Then there was a flash of movement, something so fast that even he hadn't followed it and when he could register everything again, he realized three things. One, there was no longer any Kryptonite anywhere in the room. Two, the bracelet had disappeared from his wrist and three, one Bart Allen was standing in the middle of the mansion's entry way with bolt cutters in one hand and the blue K in the other. "Surprise."

Lex rolled his eyes. "I really had no problem kidnapping you the first time, Bart."

"Yeah, that sucked for me, but I think you're going to have a lot of problems now." With that, Bart pressed the communicator in his ear. "Ready any time."

Clark smiled as all of his close personal friends (and pretty much ever superhero in the continental United States) burst through the doors of the mansion. Victor, A.C., and Dinah poured in first, followed by Ollie, and, finally, the only one he really wanted to see.

Kon grinned. "Mommy!"

"Lex?"

Lex, who was an unflattering shade of purple (which actually matched his shirt), glared back at Chloe. "What Sullivan?"

"Maybe you should hand Connor off to someone so they can cover his eyes because I'm about to kick your sorry ass."

Kon giggled. "As-"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Not that one, buddy, and, okay, that's not how I saw this working out."

Lex held Kon closer to him. "I have your records, Sullivan, and theirs. If I release them..."

She shrugged. "Yeah, that's true but I can get a head start and be in any country I want before you can blink and I'd rather do that than anything else."

Clark frowned and asked Kara in Kryptonian. "I thought you were raiding ISIS?"

"We did," she hissed back. "They had a contingency built into the system. Victor tried hacking the hard drive and the whole thing self-destructed."

"Are you kidding me? This was your plan? To show up?"

"The signal's not blocking anymore. Jimmy and Victor took care of that. I heard Kon today. He was sick and he's not staying here."

"Yeah, this was a bad idea," he replied, staring back at Lex and his collection of guards. "So your big plan is to piss Lex off?"

"It has flaws," she admitted.

Clark sighed and looked back at Chloe. "This is it?"

"I think it's going okay so far," she objected. "Lex, do you want to hand over Connor now or are we going to have to put all your guards in traction?"

"He's not going with you," Lex replied stiffly.

Kara glared up at him and her eyes were crimson. "Do you want to bet?"

"Move out," Lex said, still holding Kon tightly to him.

Kara grinned. Oh she'd been fantasizing about this, he could tell. "Little cousin?"

"Huh?" He asked, backing up next to her as about twenty men started forward and he really, really hoped Lex didn't have extra Kryptonite around.

"You want to breathe for me?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just blow, Kal."

"Oh," he said, exhaling with her and blowing all the men back into the wall with enough force to knock them unconscious.

"Bro?"

"Yeah A.C.?"

"Was there a reason you needed the rest of us because we like to beat the Hell out of Lex minions too."

Clark sighed. "I appreciate moral support?"

Chloe shook her head. "Lex, really, Clark can grab Kon and be in Bora Bora before you blink. Do you just want to admit defeat right now?"

Beside her, Ollie chuckled. "Like he ever would."

"No, I-" Lex started.

It was then that Lana walked up toward Lex, coming to stand next to him on the balcony. Trailing behind her was one of Lex's security detail. Clark frowned up at the man. He'd been with Lana for the last two weeks, had been the one Lex had sent to pick her up from Gotham. Clark hadn't given him all that much thought over the last few weeks, but now he was staring back at him and there was something...

Clark looked back over his shoulder and frowned back at the League. Everyone was there except for J'onn.

J'onn?

The guard beside Lana grinned. Kal-El, I must give you more credit from now on.

You've been here the entire time? What about Kara and Jax. You were supposed to-

They've been fine and my charge has always been you.

Clark frowned between Lana and Lex. What's going on?

Contingency planning, Kal-El. Just watch.

"Lana?" Lex asked. "I thought you were in your room?"

"I was," she replied, staring down at Clark. "It got noisy. Chloe."

Kara and Ollie both had to keep Chloe from shooting up the stairs to thrash her. "I want my son, Lana."

She nodded. "I bet you do. Lex, can I have him?"

J'onn?

Keep watching, Kal-El

Lex's eyes widened. "What?"

"I want to hold him. Can I?"

"Of course," he said, a slight hint of awe and gratitude in his tone. He picked Kon from off his chest and handed him over to Lana. "Will you be good for her, Joseph?"

Kon looked between Lana and Chloe and started to whimper. "Mama."

" A stor-" Chloe started.

"Lex, just hand him over," Lana insisted, her arms held wide, taking Kon awkwardly into them. Kon looked up at Lana and Clark noted the second she shivered. Lana forced a small smile for him. "Hello Joseph."

Kon frowned up at her. "Rel!"

Kara laughed. "My nephew is so much smarter than you are, Kal. That is a squirrel, Kon-El."

Lana's face pinched up and she sighed down at Kon. "You've caused a lot of trouble, you know that?"

"Same could be said for you," Chloe spat.

Lana nodded. "I know." And then, to everyone's surprise, Lana started coming down the stairs and stopped right in front of him. "I hated what you said last night, Clark."

"I hate you," he shot back. Kon looked between the two of them, his little brows scrunched up in confusion. Clark sighed and reached out to stroke Kon's hair. It wasn't fair to him that his biological parents hated each other so much. "Shh, buddy. Not you, you're the best."

He was not only the one good thing Lana'd ever done. He was also the one good thing that he and Lana had ever done together.

"What's your point, Lana?"

"It wasn't wrong. I can't be anything for him, no matter what I wanted," she paused and looked up to J'onn. "I've actually been talking a lot with someone since I came back from Gotham and he keeps saying everything you do. I think you're both right."

"Oh, whoa," Kara hissed. "Hell froze over."

J'onn! You brainwashed her! Clark snapped, glaring at him.

Martians can't do that. Don't be ridiculous. I've merely spent the last three weeks or so counseling her. There are more ways than blackmail to solve a problem.

That worked?

J'onn smiled and shifted, flickering for just the briefest instant to his true form before his John Jones persona was facing them. "I'm persuasive and usually right."

Lex jumped back when he realized what had happened. "The Martian?"

J'onn nodded. "Your mansion is far easier to breach than you'd think, Luthor."

"Oh that's so weird," Bart snapped.

Lana looked back up at J'onn. "It was you?"

"Yes. I've kept a close eye on more things than any of you know, but I wasn't wrong with you, was I, Lana?"

She shook her head and then did the last thing Clark expected. She handed Kon back to him. Hesitantly, oh so hesitantly, she leaned over and kissed the top of Kon's head and then jumped back. Her getting away from Kon was the fastest he'd ever seen a human move. "I can't take care of him."

"You think?" Chloe snapped.

"I can't...he's just...I'm...never mind. I can't but you can."

"So you're just handing him back?" Oliver prodded.

"Like there's no trick in that," The Canary snapped.

Lana nodded. "There's a catch." And with that, she handed Clark a thick folder. "This is enough on ISIS and 33.1 to put me and Lex in jail until we're three hundred. I'm making a deal with you. You hold that and we hold Kon's records from his prenatal care. If you think of acting on them, we will turn you and Kara and Jackson over to the DDS and leave you to rot and take Joseph back."

Oliver shook his head. "No deal. The other half of that is that we agree never to prosecute you."

"No, you can play terrorist all you want, but the law isn't ever coming into it. It's an even trade. You back off of me and of Lex and you can keep your son, Clark. That's the deal."

Clark looked back at the League and felt his cheeks flush. Victor, A.C., and Bart had all been tortured by Lex before. Chloe had been experimented on. He looked back at her and he could read the expression on her face. She was going to let him take the deal.

"Mutually assured destruction," Kara said. "You have enough to ruin us and we have enough to ruin you. So we stalemate."

Lana nodded, "Exactly. I'd rather have ISIS than Joseph anyway."

Chloe shuddered and stepped forward. "We're not going to let you keep doing what you are."

"Then you'll have to find something else," Lana hissed. "And considering how far you've gotten in the last what? Three years? It's going to take a while. This is a one time offer. You take it and we ignore you. You don't and I don't know what they'll do to someone like you."

Chloe slapped her for that. "You're not going to threaten my family."

"You're not going to stop my work," Lana replied simply. "What's it gonna be, Chloe. Are you more interested in Justice or are you more interested in stealing back my son?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes and picked Kon up from his grasp. "He's my son and we're taking the deal but we'll find something else, Lana, and when we do, God help you."

Lana nodded and stepped away from Kon, carefully avoiding eye contact. "You do that. Oh, one other thing."

"What?" Kara snapped and her red eyes indicated that she was seriously thinking of just turning Lana and Lex to cinders anyway.

"One day Joseph's-"

"Connor Sullivan," Chloe hissed.

"One day, my son is going to figure out exactly who is mother is. I don't want you to ex me out."

"Well," Kara snapped. "If he'd like to join up with the Addams Family-"

"I'm serious, Clark. One day, he's going to ask."

"And then he'll meet you, be impressed with your winning personality, and never look back," Chloe replied. "Clark? We're leaving."

Kon looked between him, Chloe and Lana. " Acasa, ru? "

Clark smiled even though he felt anything but happy. He was going to trade the safety of a lot of people for his family tonight and he would do it again if asked, in a heartbeat. "Yeah, buddy, we're going home."

Kon nodded and looked back at Lana. To everyone's surprise, he blew a raspberry at her. "Rel, ju-li-oo-na!"

Lana wrinkled her nose as she wiped the spittle from her face. "What was that?"

Chloe smiled and clutched Kon tighter. "I'd like to translate Kon-speak for you, but I'm pretty sure it's not something I can repeat in polite company. Good-bye, Lana."

And with that, the League retreated to the farm.


	58. Chapter 59

59

The funny thing about being home was that he spent less time with Kon than he had at the mansion. The second they'd walked through the door, his mom had taken Kon, then Gabe, then Lois, then Jimmy, and he was pretty sure Kon had been handed off again somewhere to Kara. Clark looked up from the sofa and smiled at where his cousin and Chloe's cousin were both in a contest to entertain Kon more. Lois was brandishing Harry at him enthusiastically, while Kara was making little voices for Kon's favorite chew toy/little green alien. Kon giggled and clapped and you never would have known how sick he'd been just that morning.

Chloe sat down next to him and handed him a large cup of coffee. "Here, it makes you feel better."

"I can't get buzzed," he replied, taking a sip anyway.

"Oh, I know that, but it's the cure-all for whatever ails you anyway, right daddy?"

Gabe was drinking his own steaming mug and smiled back at them. "Definitely, Sullivan family tradition."

"Even for five year olds," Chloe confided, winking.

Clark looked back at Kon. He wasn't sure that Kon couldn't get a caffeine high. That was all they needed was a toddler with superstrength and a hyperactivity problem. "Coffee's for grown-ups."

"And anyone who lives in the bullpen," Chloe riposted. "How are you feeling?"

Clark looked around the room to where Kara and Lois were arguing in all honesty over which stuffed animal was better, to where the bros were sitting around the kitchen table eating his mother out of house and home, to where Dinah, Ollie, and J'onn were consulting as the few sane adults (mostly) in the room. He glanced back at the rocker where his mother sat and, unfortunately, Lionel hovered in far too closely. "A little crowded, actually."

"Well," his mother said, reaching out and squeezing his hand. "You are very popular."

"Nah," Clark replied, looking back to where now Bart was making faces at Kon, "I think my son is. I'm just the afterthought."

"Of course, Kon is a cute champion. It's okay to come in second place," Chloe admitted. "You tired yet?"

"Exhausted," he admitted. "But everyone else, including the little guest of honor, seem ready to party."

"Kon's a night owl. He's clearly mine," Chloe chirped, although there was a hard edge to her voice. Clark did think she'd be relaxing after her confrontation with Lana for a very long time.

"Clearly, Chlo. You can be up with him at three this morning. Supermetabolism or not, I'm wiped."

Lionel nodded. "Then I think it's best if the League retired to Oliver's penthouse. Kon's not going anywhere any time soon and there can be even more fawning over him tomorrow."

Clark rolled his eyes. "He is going to get a swelled head from all of this, I can tell."

Kara, who did nothing but eavesdrop, looked back up at Clark. "Well duh! Kon's an El and we're awesome. He's supposed to be adored."

"Kara, honey-" Jimmy started.

"Oh, I know James. But it's the truth. I'm not even bragging. He's the best baby at least in the galaxy, right J'onn?"

The Manhunter smiled, "When your cousin is right, she's right, Kal-El." Standing, he gave Oliver a brusque nod. "I think it would be fair for us to rest for the night. Are the rest of you coming?"

"I think Mrs. K had one more pie!" Bart objected, his tongue still half-stuck out at Kon.

His mom laughed. "You boys can take it with you and if you stop by The Talon, I'm sure Lois can sweet talk you into some treats from there as well."

Lois stood up and handed Harry back to Kara. "That's a cue for everyone off the farm, huh?"

"Most of you. Lois, I do expect to see you for pancakes in the morning," his mom replied as she, Dinah, and the Bros all started for the door. Clark noticed how J'onn made sure to keep himself between Dinah and Lois. That was a good idea. Lois had been shooting the Canary death glares all night.

"Mrs. K, do I get pancakes?" Bart chirped.

"Of course, Bart."

"And then maybe I can finally get a shot at babysitting the little dude?"

"Bart, I promise, when I run out of rabid badgers to look after Kon, you can watch him," Clark replied.

"Jerk."

Kara grinned and covered Kon's ears. "No, Kal's a bitch."

"I am not! Mom!"  
>Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're going to recover just nicely. Lo, thank you for hanging out today. I'll probably call before I pass out."<p>

Lois smirked back at Clark. "Wonder from what?"

"Come on, Lois," Victor said, shaking his head. "Clark."

He waved as all the Bros filed out the door. Bart was last and he stopped and turned around just long enough to make one last face, with bug eyes and everything at Kon. Kon clapped and giggled. "See, someone in your family appreciates true comedic genius, Stretch."

"Yeah right, short stuff," Lois snapped. "Keep moving."

The slam of the door issued in a lot of needed silence. "Better."

"Tell me about it," Chloe said. "I love our friends, but there are a lot of them."

Clark nodded. "Kon has so many uncles who are going to spoil him rotten."

"Ahem!" Kara gruffed. "I can spoil too! I'm a good spoiler."

"You don't spoil me," Clark pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're not all cute and chubby anymore, Kal. I don't have to."

Clark rolled his eyes. "So, um, about all the adults in town…uh…"

Lionel gave him a wolfish grin and Gabe twitched in a way that made Clark think of his father-in-law aching to reach for a shovel. "Clark, would you be implying anything about you and Miss Sullivan?"

"It's technically El," Chloe replied. "And I don't think so, but you aren't staying in town, are you?"

His mom gave Lionel the quickest look and Clark so didn't want to know. "Actually, considering the mansion's less than friendly territory right now, Lionel's learning to rough it."

"You're camping?"

"Might as well be," Lionel gruffed. "There's a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Smallville. I'd hardly consider it above canvas tents."

"Ooh, that's where I'm staying," Gabe enthused. "We can hang out."

"Imagine my enthusiasm."

Gabe stilled and jutted out his chin in a very Chloe and Kon way, "Or you could always give me the 'I'm sorry I ruined your career and almost had you blown up' speech you owe me."

"I think that's long overdue, Lionel," his mom replied, her tone icy.

Clark's eyes widened as Lionel blushed. Lionel Luthor, possibly Satan, was totally bulldozed by his mother. Of course, his mom could also boss around two Kryptonians, so it didn't surprise him all that much. "That might be a good idea."

"It's an excellent one," she said, standing. "Gabe, Lionel, maybe I'll just watch the two of you get settled in to your camping experience."  
>"Uh, mom, you aren't staying are you?" Clark was more nauseous at that thought than he'd ever been with morning sickness.<p>

"No, Clark."

"Don't worry," Gabe replied, following his mom and Lionel to the back porch. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Good and maybe you could like make a fort around her too and there can be lots of duct tape."

"Duct tape?" Jimmy asked, almost choking into his mug.

"It sounded like a good idea at the time," Clark hedged. "Mom, I'll see you in a little bit."

"Of course, Clark," She said, an amused smile on her face. "Gentlemen?"

"Coming, my dear." And then Lionel put his arm around her shoulder and Clark considered turning himself back over to Lex if he could avoid having to watch it.

When they were gone, Chloe and Kara burst out laughing. "Kal, one day you're going to have to deal with that. They've totally been dating for like a year."

"God," Chloe said. "If they did get married, can you imagine how screwed up Thanksgiving would be?"

"I really doubt we'd get invited to do a five course with Lex, just a hunch," Clark grumped, smiling a little when his cousin placed the man (or midget) of the hour in his lap. "Hey buddy!"

"Ru!" Kon shouted, kissing Clark's cheek. Then he looked back at Chloe and reached out his arms. "Mommy!"

"Hey! I thought you want some quality time with your kangaroo."

Kon looked back at Clark and shook his head. "Mommy!"

Chloe smirked and took their son from him. "My boy has fabulous taste. I am the cooler parent."

Kara, who had sat down beside Chloe, nodded. "Totally. Kal's the most boring person I know except for the squirrel. We're lucky Kon inherited a personality from me."

"I have a personality!"

"Sometimes," Kara replied.

"Oh, you aren't even trying to be nice to me. I was all captured and traumatized."

"But you're back now and the best way to help you feel normal is for me to remind you what a dumbass you are."

Kon giggled. "Ass."

Clark rolled his eyes. It was inevitable that after how many times he'd slipped around his son, that was bound to make it into his burgeoning vocabulary. "Buddy, no."

Kon frowned.

"Just 'mommy' and 'ru,' okay?"  
>"Rel?"<p>

Kara laughed and tickled Kon's tummy. "Good boy. You can always talk about mean old squirrels."

Kon nodded and started into a mini rant in whatever it was he spoke with a lot of the word "rel" in it. Clark wasn't sure what it meant, but it was a very colorful story and Kon made the funniest facial expressions when he was annoyed. God, he even rolled his eyes like Chloe.

Kara, as if she understood Kon-speak, nodded along. "Those are all valid points. Squirrels are evil, aren't they?"

"Li-oo-ru-na!" Kon agreed.

"It's okay, though," Kara continued. "Half-squirrels are very cool."

"My son's not a rodent."

"I don't know. He does do this squinty thing already…"

Clark blocked out the only half serious argument between his cousin and his wife after that. Sighing, he turned and looked at Jimmy, who was watching Kara with the most besotted look on his face. Oh Olsen had it so bad. Clark bet that it was only Kara's lack of an education that was keeping Jimmy from making things any more serious between them. "Uh, Jimmy?"

"Uh-huh, CK?"

"Do you want to come help me do something on the porch?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Uh, top secret guy things."

"You can't make out with my boyfriend, Kal."

Chloe laughed and even Kon clapped. "I doubt that's going to happen."

"Look, it might! I know James is really very attractive."

"If you're you ," Clark insisted, standing up and waiting for Jimmy to follow. "Quick things, big cousin. And stop insulting Kon. He's not going to horde nuts any time soon."

"Well, I wouldn't let him," she admitted. "But, you know, if you try anything, I'll hear you. You settled for Chloe!"

Some days, Clark wasn't sure if his cousin was kidding or had completely lost her mind. He hoped it was the former.

"So, CK, did you need something? If this is the 'Don't even think about Kara except in a nun way' speech, um, you're a little late."

"I can imagine," Clark replied, leaning against the railing. "No, I've adjusted to the idea of Kara not being locked in some tower until she's a hundred. I've even decided to be big about the whole thing and let you keep your arms."

"Thanks!"

"I try. Look, Jimmy, I know that you helped Kara find me when we first went missing."

"Well," Jimmy said, shrugging. "It was a pretty easy guess where you two would be and I've always been good with frequencies. It's something I learned fooling around with a ham radio, you know."

"I heard. Still, I think the League might have waited a little longer if Kara hadn't honed in on Kon's heartbeat today. I don't know if what's happened is all that smart, but I'm really glad we're home. So thank you."

"Yeah, because compared to the undercover Martian, the team of superheroes, and a pissed off Chloe and Kara, I saved the day."

"You helped. That matters."

"And I was what? Gonna just sit back and let something happen to you and my, uh, what's the word?"

"Nephew is fine," Clark replied. "You're definitely more of an uncle than anyone in the League and we all know it. You're probably more family than Lois."

"I'm really not," he admitted, looking out at the night. "I'm mean I'm just Jimmy."

"Uh-huh. Just Jimmy who actually takes really great care of my cousin. She adores you."

"Really?"

"Are you blind?"

"No, but she's about ten times out of my league. She could always get bored, you know."

Clark smiled warmly. "I can't pretend to account for her taste, but she loves you and I'm glad she does. You're about a million times better for her than Lana ever was for me."

"That's not really a contest I should be close to losing, CK."

"You know what I mean. She picked well."

"Right, yeah. Nothing happened yet…okay, well some stuff happened, but not like…and you know…I do love my arms."

"They're safe. I just…you and Chloe were probably right about the whole thing. It was too late by the time everything happened, what with all the bugs. But maybe we should have left the farm for a while. A lot of stuff could have been avoided."

"I didn't really want an 'I told you so' moment. I'm just glad everything worked itself out in the end."

Clark nodded. "Me too. I just wanted you to know that I meant what I said. Even if you're not of the superpowered persuasion, as Chloe calls it, you're equal."

"To what?"

Clark turned back to face him. "There's just me and Kara."

"I know."

"I mean, Jax and Kon are just little kids. Whatever happens with the four of us, it's up to me and Kara to figure it out."

"Again, I might have noticed that too."

"But I just wanted to make it clear that it's a four way vote. You and Chloe get equal say. Kon's Chloe's and, you know, in about a century, when I can get over the idea of it, I'm pretty sure Kara's kids are going to be yours."

"Uh, if you add in that Century of Virtue, they won't be."

"Well, since you asked nicely, like fifty years."

"Thanks," Jimmy deadpanned. "Okay, so it's nice to have the validation, but this seems all big revelations for the night. What gives?"

Clark sighed. "We have a lot to do tomorrow and it has to be all four of us together in it, you most of all."

"What are we doing?"

"You'll see?"

"And why me?"

"Because you're the average human in all of this and that actually makes you a lot more important than you think."

"So," Chloe said, leaning in to kiss his throat. "Kara and Jimmy went back to Metropolis."

"To play checkers."

"Yeah, full contact naked checkers," Chloe snarked, kissing him. "What do you want to do?"

Clark smiled and leaned in to whisper into her ear. "I did have this one fantasy."

"Oh, I'm listening."

"See," he said, stroking her hair. "There'd be you."

"Naturally."

"And our bed."

"Definitely."

"And then we'd lie down on it…"

"Uh-huh."

"And tickle the cutest baby in the universe to death," he finished, flickering to her perspective and reappearing with a fairly tuckered out Kon in his grip.

Chloe smiled and kissed their son. "It's like you read my mind."

Clark smiled and slipped with her under the covers, grinning at the way she cradled Kon on her stomach. Their son blinked hard and shoved a thumb in his mouth. Within a few minutes, he was asleep. "We missed you."

"So I heard," she replied. "I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing him call me 'mommy.'"

"I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing him say 'squirrel' either."

Chloe snickered. "Man, Kara is so in love with that story already. I think she's going to be telling it around the Watchtower well into the next century."

"Probably," Clark replied, kissing her temple sweetly. "He loves you, you know. He spoke just for you."

"Nah, he spoke because your son, oh fearsome traveler, is a genius."

"He might be, just a little," Clark admitted. "But you're his mom. I promised you that."

"I know," she replied, her voice quiet.

"No matter what Lana said today…it doesn't matter. She's the biggest liar I've ever met and since I know Lex, that's saying a lot."

Chloe gave him one of her painfully forced smiles. "I know that too."

Clark sighed and kissed her again. "Mom's always going to be my mom, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," She hedged. "But…"  
>Kon let out a long sigh and clutched the collar of Chloe's sleep shirt tightly. Clark smiled. "I think he feels the same way."<p>

"Well, like I said, he is a genius."

"Oh totally," Clark sighed and patted Kon's back. "I read the file Lana gave me. Did you read it?"

Chloe shuddered. "Pieces here and there. I got the general idea very quickly."

"Did you get to Lex's half, the records from 33.1? He's been terminating the dangerous projects."

Chloe closed her eyes. "I know."

"I'm a lot more selfish than I thought I was," he conceded, staring down at Kon.

"I don't think that's true. We'll figure something out, Clark, and it's not like she left us with much of a choice. It's not justyour son in the middle of this."

" Ours ," he corrected.

"Jax doesn't deserve to be cut up in a lab."

"Yeah, but there's at least a dozen people who didn't deserve to die down in 33.1 either."

"We'll fix it."

"I'm not supposed to compromise."

Chloe shook her head. "And sometimes, it's the only thing you can do. Life isn't a Warrior Angel comic, no matter how much I think Ryan and Lex want it to be. Sometimes the good guys do things that aren't all that noble. I mean, Ollie stole a lot of things when he first started in Metropolis and the League has blown up a lot of property."

"We have enough on our hands to save a lot of people too. If we-"

"We're not doing that. Hell, Martha and Lionel and J'onn will hold you down if you even think it. We'll do something and we will find what we need on our own terms and then nothing Lana and Lex can do will save them."

"But in the meantime-"

"The League will keep blowing things up," she replied, her tone clipped.

"But it's not enough. I owe people for this one, for putting my family above theirs."

Chloe nodded. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't feeling guilty. Then maybe there's something you can do beyond just helping Ollie."

He frowned, "Like what?"

"Maybe, now that you're healthy and Kon's safe, it's time that you actually started patrolling. I mean, it doesn't wipe the Karmic slate clean, it couldn't do that, but you could start actively seeking out people to help."

"I'm not Ollie. I'm not that great at the hero bit, really."  
>She snorted. "Yeah, right. You're really good at it. It's just a question of taking it to the next level. You and me and Kara, we could work harder, keep Metropolis safe. I mean, not even in a leather-costume kind of way, necessarily but you'd look hot that way."<p>

"No thank you and if Kara dressed like Dinah, I'd have a heart attack."

"Duly noted. But if we could find a way to really shut down Belle Reve, too, something in the paper trail end of things, then Lex's main supplier wouldn't be around. If we started floating the right rumors about ISIS, people would stop walking right into the lion's den."

"It's not the same as just going to the MPD tonight."

She swallowed. "I know that, but it's all I'm willing to give." With that, she clutched Kon tighter. "It's the best option because you know who Lex and Lana are, what they're capable of. If they actually did raise Kon…it would be worse than if they AI had done it. Outside of being selfish, I'm not willing to risj that because what he could do, if he didn't have a conscience. Clark, we can't."

"I know," he replied, kissing Kon's head. His son was the sweetest, most even-tempered infant he'd just about ever met. It was hard to see him and think of some kind of Doomsday scenario twenty years into the future, but if Kon were raised to be just like Lana... "I wonder if my parents ever felt this way."

Chloe frowned. "What way?"

"I know they love me, and we love Kon more than anything, obviously, but still there's all this pressure. I'm raising my son, but it's like-"

"Disarming a nuclear bomb at the same time?"

"That's pretty easy, actually."

"If you're nuke proof and can just rip out the wires in space," she said wryly. "No, I know. But we just have to be careful with him. We have to watch after both of them, you know."

"I do," he replied. "This is hard."

Chloe smiled back at him. "Well, like you figured out, sex leads to little Kryptonians and that's complicated."

"Tell me about it," he replied, reaching out to trace the contours of the stone on Chloe's bracelet. "Chlo?"

"Yeah," she asked, yawning a little.

"Lex has the worst timing in the world."

"There's a good time to be kidnapped?" Clark grinned and sped to the loft and back. Chloe just rolled her eyes. "I'm not even able to startle anymore."

Clark's smile widened as he glanced down at their son. "Good, I think he's going to love trying to pop out and scare mommy when he can speed."

"Kara does that now and she's 21!"

"I know," he replied, one large hand still wrapped around the velvet box he'd recovered. "Chloe, um, you like being an El for lack of a better word, right?"

"Always," she replied, kissing Kon's head. "Two impossibly beautiful travelers in my family. And you're not bad looking, either."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Why do you ask? You aren't thinking of taking the bracelet back, are you?"

Clark blushed. "I can't, like I literally couldn't do it. We're just not made that way."

"So would Kon?"

"I don't know. We'd have to wait and see. Kara and I…we're loyal and we'll never go anywhere, not ever. But Lana…"

"Is the Guinness World Record holder of fickle."

"Yeah, it's hard to predict what humans mixed with Kryptonians do. But my point is that you're stuck with me."

Chloe winked. "I don't know. Alien kangaroos are very high maintenance. I mean, hanging out with you gives me unlimited access to Kon, but then there's all the moping."

"Very funny."

"Clark, where are you going with this?"

"When all that stuff happened with the Inquisitor and about the, um, cheating scandal."

Chloe sighed. "Yeah, it's not your fault they wrote that. The Inquisitor is a piece of crap."

That caused Kon to wake up and blink up at her. "Cr—"

"No, buddy. We are so going to have to watch the swear jar better. He's like a parrot."

Kon giggled again and kissed Chloe's cheek. "Mommy."

She snorted. "Uh-huh, doesn't make up for bad words, a stor ."

Clark chuckled and stroked Kon's hair. "I told you, Kara and I and J'onn, we see that bracelet and we know what it means, that you're always going to be part of my family, but no one outside of our friends and family get that."

"I know and it's okay, really."

"No, it's not," he said, opening up his palm and grinning as Chloe's eyes widened. "I mean, I know this is kind of redundant," he floundered, popping open the box. "But would you marry me?"

Chloe stared at the modest diamond and turquoise setting. "Clark."

Kon reached out for the ring. "Mama!"

"Yes, that would be me."

" Di ru!"

"Is that Kon or Kryptonian?"

"Both," Clark replied, pulling the ring out of the box. "He wants you to tell me."

"What?"

"Well, I think it's a custom on Earth to say 'yes.'"

Kon looked back at her and nodded and maybe he should start looking into special preschools or possibly a lot of tutoring with the Manhunter and Chief Joseph.

Chloe laughed and held out her left hand. "Yes, Clark, I'll marry you."

Clark slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her. "See, that wasn't so hard was it."

Kon frowned and started babbling irritatedly.

"What now, a stor ?"

"Ru! Ru!"

"Oh, you're right, how silly of me," Chloe replied, leaning up and kissing Clark. "I mean that yes, kangaroo, I'll marry you."

Clark had rarely been more nervous in his life. His SATs, the first day of college, even being at ISIS the first time were a breeze compared to all the pressure he was feeling now. He was sitting on the sofa in Ollie's penthouse and Chloe was sitting next to him, her hand in his. His cousin was on his left side, assuming an almost parallel position with Jimmy. His mother was sitting in the overstuffed chair overlooking the balcony. Out there, Lois was bouncing Kon on her lap and talking a mile a minute with another little boy.

Clark looked away from the view of his son and back to Mary Donovan. Kara had kept her promise and flown straight from Lex's mansion to New Mexico to pick up Mary and Jackson. The other woman hadn't even had time to protest before Kara had whisked the three of them to a safehouse J'onn had set up for them on the outskirts of New York City. Mary and Jax had been hidden there for the last three weeks, until today. Until Kara had come for them and, from Mary's perspective, blinked her back into existence in the middle of a Metropolis penthouse.

She was staring between Clark and Kara with a mixture of confusion, anger and not a little fear on her face. "Are we actually going to talk now?"

Clark's throat felt dry, but this was his show. Kara was bossy and over-impressed with herself, but she'd kept her word. In the decisions that concerned the Council (as small and ridiculous as it was), he was the one in charge. "Yeah, we are."

"What the Hell is going on?"

Clark sighed and Chloe squeezed his hand. "Tell me what you think you know and Kara and I will answer as many questions as we can."

Mary nodded, but her posture was still rigid and her expression still pinched. "There is something unusual about both of you. Kara can teleport, obviously, and Connor's yours."

"You know that Kon's mine," he replied evenly.

"No, I mean that Kon came from you, that when you visited me the first time, you were pregnant with him."

Clark blushed. "That's true about me but Kara can't teleport."

"I was in Santa Fe one second and New York the next. What would you call it?"

"Superspeed," Chloe corrected. "Clark and Kara are just very fast."

"Like how you were in my husband's workshop one second and just gone the next even though you didn't bring a car?"

Clark nodded. "Exactly like that."

"There was never another country, was there, Clark?"

"Not exactly."

"But my husband wasn't exactly from the United States either, was he?"

"No," Clark replied. "Where do you think we're from?"

She frowned. "I can't begin to guess the actual answer to that but, as crazy as it sounds, I think I can guess where you're not from. You're not human, are you?"

Kara held her chin up haughtily. "No, we're not. Kal-El and I, like Dax-Ur, are from a planet called Krypton."

"Does it still exist or was that pretty story about Cold War upheaval just a tall tale as well?" She asked coldly.

Clark nodded at his cousin. "You know more than I do, big cousin," he said in Kryptonian.

Kara shook her head and kept watching Mary. "No, it isn't just a story. There was a civil war and then there wasn't a planet anymore. Kal-El, me, Kon, and Jax are all that's left at all of the Kryptonian race. It's just us."

"My son isn't-"

"I'd choose my words, carefully," Chloe said. "Our sons are very much alike. Anything you say or think about Jax applies to Kon too."

Mary nodded. "This is insane."

"And yet you must have passed insane six exits back, right after the yes-men of billionaires showed up with blank checks and your husband couldn't be autopsied," Chloe replied.

"Maybe. I…this isn't possible."

Clark sighed. "We could give you more street cred, but I know you're just saying the right words to make yourself feel better. You saw Dax's writings, knew he was keeping meteor rocks, were all but hurling accusations at me. You know we're telling you the truth."

"Finally. What changed?"

"I thought it was better if you didn't know," he replied.

"Like Dexter did?"  
>"Dexter didn't want to be Kryptonian either. Trust me, I can relate. But I didn't want you to know because it's too dangerous to. Whatever information you have, if you said it to the wrong person…you're from New Mexico, you have to know what comes next."<p>

"Is that real?"

Kara shrugged. "Wasn't any of us. Who knows? But there are a lot of people out there, some in the government and some not, who want the four of us very, very badly, and they'd hurt a lot of people to get to us."

"I wouldn't hurt Jackson ever. You know that I'd-"

"Sell my son out for yours. Yeah, I got that much," Chloe snapped.

"Chloe, come on," Jimmy said. "This isn't about being angry or hostile. We all made some choices that didn't work out so well. At the time, we thought that if you knew, someone like…no, scratch that…exactly Lex Luthor could torture the truth out of you, if he wanted."

"The philanthropist?"

Clark shuddered. "That's not what he is. He's dangerous and I warned you that he specializes in stealing people with abilities like us and like your son. That's what he did. He had my family bugged and yours followed and he got the proof he needed. Kon and I spent the last three weeks as his prisoners because there's nothing more valuable out there than an alien with nearly unlimited powers."

Mary frowned. "With what?"

"We're getting there, Mary," his mom said, her tone infinitely gentle. "We fixed it. Lex isn't coming for your son or for mine any longer. But, since Jax has already been threatened, it's fair now that you know why. The dangerous people know and you need to have everything."  
>Mary nodded. "What is everything? What happened to Krypton, exactly."<p>

Clark exchanged a look with his cousin and watched Chloe's expression harden. "You're not going to like this very much."

"I don't like any of it."

"Fair enough," Jimmy replied.

Kara sighed. "Kal-El told you a lot of the truth. He really was only an infant, not really that much bigger than Kon when my aunt and uncle sent him here. He doesn't remember what it was like. I do. I was sixteen and I noticed both sides of it. Our family was on the ruling Council, both our fathers were science advisors, so we knew more than the average family."

"Alright."

"The official story was that General Zod, and he was one cruel son of a bitch, was leading an insurrection and that the State was succeeding in putting it down. No matter how much of the capital was exploded, no matter how many citizens died, they kept telling us that everything was going to be fine and everyone else believed it."

"Kara, you don't-"

She shook her head back at him. "No, I do. My father and Kal's agreed on exactly two things. Unfortunately, the first thing was that they were both in love with Kal's mother."

Mary blushed as did his mother. He'd never mentioned the exact nature of the mess with Zor-El's clone. It was too twisted to explain and it just hurt Kara deeply to think of it. "Oh."

"Yeah," Kara continued, her voice wavering and Clark was grateful when Jimmy hugged her. "The other thing they agreed on was that they hated Zod and everything the State kept saying was a lie. We weren't winning, not at all. And that was before the earthquakes started."

"What?" Clark asked. He'd never asked Kara for the story or J'onn or Lionel. He didn't want to know it. He had the briefest flashes of something from Before and he'd had terrible nightmares when he'd been younger, dreams with the sky filled with smoke and the smell of something burning. He could fill in the rest.

"Zod was smarter than anyone but our family gave him credit for. Over a century before, the Council decided to put control of our planet in the hands of the most advanced artificial intelligence in 28 galaxies. It was supposed to monitor everything, especially weather conditions. If something were coming, it was designed to be an advanced warning system. Our family didn't work on it; it was long before our fathers were even born. But the original creator saw what the Council didn't see."

"What?" Mary asked.

"If it could monitor the planet, it could control it. Zod corrupted the programming and set it to destroy the planet's crust. By the time anyone would even start listening to our fathers, it was too late."

"But why would he do that?"

"Because he's insane. Trust me," Chloe replied. "We met him and he's a bastard. Dark Thursday? That was supposed to be his warm up act."

"He's here?"

"Not anymore," Clark replied. "He's not going to cause anyone any problems again." Brainiac, Clark could not vouch for, not yet.

Mary frowned and Clark waited for the question. "The original builder wasn't an El?"

"No, we don't specialize so much in artificial intelligence, actually," Kara admitted.

Clark rolled his eyes at the thought of the AI. Clearly, Jor-El's program had some huge, scorpion-sized bugs in it. "No, we didn't?"

"If your fathers saw it coming, surely the person who made the program…he had to have known how dangerous it could be."

Clark sighed. "This is the part you're really not gonna like so much. I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Dax-Ur, Dexter," Kara clarified. "Built it. He built it, went down in history as our greatest scientific mind, and then was 'lost' in an exploratory expedition to Earth about five years after the Brain Interactive Construct went online. Everyone thought he'd died and then it just became this great tragic footnote."

Her eyes were huge. "But you said it was over a hundred years ago."

Jimmy smiled sadly and squeezed Kara even tighter. "Kryptonians on Earth don't age like humans do. They're not exactly immortal, but they live much, much longer."

"So Dexter?"

"He'd been on Earth at least since the prospecting days," Chloe clarified. "He came here because he knew what was coming and he was too cowardly to stop it. There are only two families left from Krypton: the one that knew what was coming and did nothing and the one that tried to save everything but far too late."  
>Mary reeled back. "He did what?"<p>

Clark sighed. "It doesn't matter now. Krypton's gone and it's been gone for twenty years. We can't change that now and I don't have time to be angry about something like that." He glanced at Kara and whispered to her in their native language. "I am so sorry, big cousin."

Kara rubbed at her eyes and they all pretended not to notice. "You asked and that's the truth. That's exactly where Jax-Ur-and that's his name, by the way-that's where he comes from. That's his legacy but it's not his fault. He can't help what Dax-Ur did any more than I can make up for the things my father tried to do or than Kon can help that his biological mother's a royal bitch."

"Kara!" his mom chided.

"Sorry, Aunt Martha," she replied. "So now you know. This is who we are, the last of a race that doesn't even exist anymore."

Mary swallowed and looked back to the patio, watching as Jax attacked Lois with watercolors. "He's an alien, then?"

"Actually," Jimmy corrected. "He's half human and half intergalactic traveler. That's the PC term."

"I see. And can he run fast and, um…"

Chloe laughed uneasily. "I don't think that he can do what Clark did. Human men certainly don't do it and it only happens if the girl's infertile. Jax would have to have really terrible luck for that to happen to him."

"Oh," Mary sighed. "Is that all he can do because I've never seen him run like you can, Kara?"

His cousin shook her head. "Kal-El and I have a lot of abilities. We invulnerable, except to the meteor rocks. Jax can't ever be near the green kind or it will kill him."

"We don't have any samples anymore."

"Good," Clark continued. "We're strong. I can compress coal into diamonds without any effort. You know we're fast. We can hear almost anything, see through skin like an X-ray, emit blasts of heat from our eyes and fly."

"Fly?"

"Actually, Kal falls a lot. I fly ," Kara corrected. "Ooh and we can blow like tornadoes if we want to."

"Are you sure that's it?"

Jimmy smiled. "Well if you add in CK's fearsome ability to become pregnant, that about covers him and Kara."

Mary frowned. "Just them?"

Clark nodded. "You must have noticed this much. Whatever it is about being human…it changes what we can do. Kon's a telekinetic. He can already move things…" saying "explode" at this point would just upset her. "I bet that Jax can do it to. I don't think he means to and I doubt he can control it, but I'd bet that a lot of stuff tends to break if he gets upset. Maybe windows cracked for no reason, stuff like that."

Mary nodded. "They do sometimes, a lot more when he was just a baby. But the other things? I know he can't do them."

Clark looked to Kara and he could see the revulsion on her face. "The meteor rock is poisonous to us. All the colors do horrible things. The green's fatal, the red strips our inhibitions, and the blue takes our powers. As long as Jax has that necklace on, he won't ever be like Kara and I are."

Mary breathed a sigh of relief and the sight of it stabbed Clark deeply. "So I can make him normal?"

"Mrs. Donovan," Jimmy said. "It's radioactive. The only reason Jax isn't the way he should be is because he's being poisoned as long as he's wearing it."

"You want to keep it on him now that you know?" Chloe asked coldly.

Mary glared back at her. "I can't deal with the alternative. I just can't. How am I supposed to take care of an eight year old with inhuman speed and laser vision?"

"Heat vision," Clark corrected. "And I didn't get that until I was almost fifteen."

"Okay, big difference." Mary looked at his mother and then at Chloe. "I'm not like you."

"Damn right, you're not," Chloe hissed.

"I didn't sign up for this. Dexter…he lied to me."

Clark ducked his head. He'd tried a stunt very close to what Dax-Ur had. He'd tried having a relationship with Lana without telling her anything. "I know and that was wrong."

Jimmy frowned. "If you'd known…you're not like me and Chloe, are you?"

She shook her head. "I love my son and I'd do anything to protect him, but I can't deal with this. I don't want any part in it. I don't want to be involved in whatever blood feud you have going with one of the richest men on the planet. I don't want to worry about intergalactic dictators, and I certainly don't want to deal with superpowers. I don't want to have to teach my son how not to break bone or how to just run like everyone else. If the rock makes him normal, why wouldn't I use it?"

Chloe's eyes flashed and Clark clamped down on her wrist tighter than he probably should have to restrain her. "It's poisoning him , you moron. Would you just strap Plutonium onto him too?"

"Don't be absurd."

"It's not safe for him, Mary," his mother added.

"Dax-Ur wore his bracelet as long as I'd known him and he was never sick."

"And then it left him defenseless and ready to be murdered," Chloe snapped. "Don't do this to him."

Mary narrowed her eyes. "He's my son and I get to decide how to raise him. Dexter's not here anymore and I'm his mother. I don't care if you are like him, Clark, you're not his father."

"I know that, but someone has to take care of him. The blue meteor rock, it's not a solution. It's a stop gap and it's crippling him. Eventually, it will come off and then someone is going to have to explain to him about his powers and why he is the way he is. He's one of us. There's only four in the whole universe." He sighed and took a deep breath. "Do you even know what that means? Do you understand how alone the four of us actually are? We're all we have."

"And, like I said, Clark. You mean well, but you're still just a kid. I'm twice your age and I've been taking care of my son for almost nine years. You just had yours. You don't know what it's like at all."

"But I do," his mom defended. "I know what it's like to have such a special son and it's hard but it's not impossible to take care of him. In fact, I've enjoyed nothing as much as I have caring for my son."  
>Clark smiled back at his mom. "Thanks."<p>

"Mrs. Donovan," Jimmy said. "I know it's overwhelming. I mean, I get it, believe me. There's nothing special about me at all. I'm not even above average for a human. I mean, I sucked at gym class and the thought of chasing after a superspeeding toddler-"

"I didn't get my speed until I was five."

"Okay, same difference, is really intimidating," he replied, squeezing Kara. "But they're worth it. CK and Kara and my nephew…they're like the most amazing people I know."

"And my son can be ordinary and never have to know about any of this. Dax-Ur never told me or him so he clearly didn't want Jackson to know either. It's not his birthright, Clark. It's something that stays hidden."

"You can't, you stupid b-"

Clark clamped his hand around Chloe's mouth. "That's your decision. We can't take him from you. I'm not comfortable with that and it would be wrong. We can't force you to take the necklace off of him, even though I really, really urge you to do it anyway. But you have to know who-"

"What," Mary spat.

"Who," his mom insisted. "Whatever Dax-Ur wanted, it was wrong. It failed miserably and, clearly, considering he let an entire planet implode, his judgment is awful. This is who Jax is and no amount of meteor rock is ever going to change that."

Chloe looked back at him and he tensed. That wasn't entirely true but Lex had the only sample of the gold Kryptonite and there was no way that he'd ever strip Kon or Jax's powers, even if he knew what he had.  
>Mary shook her head. "I appreciate that you're honest with me and that now I have my answers, but you said there were two families involved in all of this and there are. The Els are free to do whatever they want. The Donovans don't want any part in this mess. Is that understood?"<p>

Clark sighed and looked back to where Jax was now blowing bubbles in front of Kon, laughing as his son tried to pop them. He wanted to help take care of Jax, to fix the mess Dexter had left behind, but he was selfish too. It would be easier for Kon if there were someone else in the world like him.

"I get that, but can Kon still visit? We won't tell Jackson anything about Krypton. I don't plan to say anything to Kon about it until he's a teenager and old enough not to repeat it, but I think it would be best for both the boys if they had each other."

Mary stilled. "We'll try it, but the first sign of anything alien and you won't be allowed near him. Is that understood?"

He nodded. "And when that necklace comes off-and I am telling you right now it will, no matter what you tell him, he will take it off some day-it really doesn't matter what you want because he's the last member of our council and he does deserve his birthright."

"Did you want yours, Clark?" She asked, throwing his words back in his face.

Clark sighed and looked back at Kon, at his inhumanly bright eyes, and then at his cousin and finally at the bracelet gleaming on his wife's wrist. "I want it now more than anything."

Epilogue

They waited until Kon was a year old to get married. He wanted it to be on the 25th again, to be on Kon's birthday and they're actual anniversary, but asking people to a Christmas Day wedding was too much. They waited until the sixth of January instead, just enough time for the Holiday season to die down. As much as he loved Kon and as proud as he was of his son, Clark had waited all that while on purpose. He'd wanted to wait until Kon's eyes had changed.  
>Not that he was ashamed of him.<p>

He wasn't.

But this ceremony was the public one, the one for Chloe, the for coworkers from the Planet and old high school friends who just wouldn't get Kon, even if this were Smallville and everyone was a little strange. Besides, apart from keeping the big alien conspiracy hidden incentive, it took a long damn time to plan a wedding. Also, it was boring.

Clark could see in multiple spectra and he still didn't understand why Chloe had freaked out about the right shade of white for the place cards. Humans were so weird sometimes.

It was a beautiful ceremony, set up with more flowers than the Metropolis Botanical Gardens had, and everything dripping in emerald-hued silk. Kara had lobbied hard for primary colors on his behalf and because, obviously, that was the best color scheme Earth had to offer, but Chloe hadn't bought into it. Standing at the altar modest church on the Kawatchee reservation, Clark decided his wife had been right just this once.

And, ahem, pretty much throughout most of their relationship.

There was such an assortment of people up there with him. All of the Bros, save for J'onn, were his groomsmen as was Jimmy. Standing up on the other side of the aisle were Kara, Dinah, and, of course, Lois. Clark glanced back to the front row and shook his head at where the parents were sitting. Gabe was off to Chloe's side of the church, bragging a little too loudly about Chloe with Perry, who merely smiled his Cheshire cat grin as he went on. In front of Clark, his mother was sitting, with J'onn and Lionel on either side of her. Clark had had to invite Lionel.

Mostly because his mom would have killed him for not doing it.

Also, because Lionel might have flipped the bill. Gabe had deemed it as a big part of making up for that whole trying to kill them snafu a few years ago. After Lionel paid for Harvard and then Harvard Law for Kon, then they'd be mostly even. Chloe's dad was pretty happy with the ceremony over all, except for the part where it wasn't taking place in a cathedral. The part where his good Irish girl was about to be an honest woman was enough. Besides, both of them had really wanted Joseph to officiate. Besides, the old chief was more than ready to help accommodate the best man.

As the chief continued on, Clark looked down into Chloe's eyes and then at Kon's carrier. Their son looked quite spiffy, if he did say so himself, in possibly the smallest tuxedo Clark had ever seen. Gripped in one slightly drooled on hand was the wedding ring. Clark really hoped Kon didn't try swallowing it before the ceremony was over.

"Since there are no objections," the chief said, glancing across the assembled group. "Then we can move on to the vows." The old chief winked at Clark. "For our people, the tradition has always been to exchange bracelets, going back to the great mother of our tribe." The Kawatchee-and all of them had been invited-all smiled. They could already see the proof the real ceremony on Chloe's wrist. "However, we're honoring the tradition of the world outside of our tribe here. Chloe?"

She nodded and then looked back at Lois, who had been busy glaring at Dinah. "Lo!" she hissed.

"Oh right, gotcha!" There was twitter of laughter as Lois pulled out the ring and handed it to Chloe. "You can always back out," she whispered. "It is Smallville, you know."

Clark narrowed his eyes and then smiled when Chloe delivered her end of the vows and slipped the ring on his finger.

"Clark?" Joseph pressed.

Clark nodded and picked up the best man. "Hey buddy, can you help me out here?"

Kon nodded and handed him a ring that was only a little wet. " Ani ."

The chief laughed and Clark rolled his eyes. "Yes, that is a ring, buddy."  
>"Clark, repeat after me: 'With this ring, I thee wed.'"<p>

"With this ring, I thee wed," he said, placing the ring on her finger and appreciating how well it went with her engagement ring.

Joseph smiled. "With the power invested in me, I pronounce you man and wife."

Kon didn't like that much. He erupted into a string of babbling at that, his little chin jutted out in typical Sullivan fashion. "No, Ru!"

Lois laughed. "Change it! Change it!"

"He's not changing it!" Clark shot back.

"No, Ka…Clark, he totally should."

Joseph took mercy on Clark. "Now, Nulec, if there are no objections. Your mommy and daddy can now kiss."

Kon considered this and clapped, and the entire cadre of guests were in stitches. "Kiss ru! Kiss ru!"

Chloe laughed and kissed Kon's cheek first. "You're so bossy."

Clark bit back the automatic response of where did she think it came from and smiled when she finally leaned up to kiss him. Pulling back shyly, he whispered in her ear. "I love you."

"Me too," she whispered back grinning. "I love both of my travelers very much."

"Ahem!" Kara shouted. "What about me and now, guess what?"

"You know, this is not how it's supposed to go," Clark objected.

"No, now it's time for presents!"

The whole congregation was roaring with laughter by then as he and Chloe started down the aisle. Under his breath, he asked Kara very quietly in Kryptonian, "What did you tell the Kawatchee?"

His cousin beamed at him and whispered back, "Oh you are so loaded after this, Kal-El. I think this worshipping thing is going to be awesome!"

Clark rolled his eyes and then hugged Kon closer. He'd work on raising Kara after he was finished with his own bundle of mischief.

"Clark?" Chloe asked, leaning into him, their son now in her arms as they walked down the aisle. "What did she do now?"

"Uh, I think we're having a reception with tributes."

Chloe laughed and rolled her eyes. "Only in your family."

"But you love us anyway."

She leaned down and kissed the top of Kon's head. "Always."

Author's Note: Yes, I am aware that Lexana are still out there being evil bastards, Lex still has the gold K, and the Fortress is still one big mess, but that's another novel.


End file.
